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Their communities, their lives, their impact on Israeli society
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A SYMPOSIUM ON THE CHOSEN PEOPLE
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Inside
THE ORTHODOX BABY BOOM
Raising Kids Alone Rabbi Natan Slifkin on Jewish Hawking Basketball Star Finds God
KABBALAH, SCIENCE AND CREATION
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JEWISH ACTION
WINTER 5776/2015
VOL. 76, NO. 2
88 How Free Will Works
By Dovid Lieberman Reviewed by Rabbi Benjamin Blech
14 Take Two Tablets and
Skype Me in the Morning The challenges of our children’s technology By Eli Shapiro
20 Coming Out of Denial: Drug
addiction in the Orthodox community By Bayla Sheva Brenner
28 The State of Orthodox KidLit
With Chanukah around the corner, Jewish parents everywhere can be found flocking to Jewish bookstores. Why? By Yael Zoldan
COVER STORY
34 Celebrating Thirty Years of Jewish Action
2
LETTERS
7
FROM THE DESK OF ALLEN I. FAGIN Israel on My Mind
90 Lincoln and the Jews: A History By Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell Reviewed by Adam Mintz
92 Q & A with Benjamin Shapell By JA editorial staff
10 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Creating Light in the Darkness By Martin Nachimson
LEGAL-EASE
93 What’s the Truth about . . . Starting to Wear Tefillin? By Ari Z. Zivotofsky
12 CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE By Gerald M. Schreck
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
JUST BETWEEN US 68 Reclaiming the Dignity of the Rabbinate: What in the world happened, and what can be done? By Avrohom Gordimer
96 One Sofer, One “Coincidence,” and 1,500 Torah Scrolls By Steve Lipman
Corrections The photo of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein appearing on page 45 in the fall 2015 issue was incorrectly attributed to Yeshivat Har Etzion. The credit should have read: Courtesy of Intermountain Jewish News/Richard Norwitz.
36 From Our Archives A selection of the most memorable Jewish Action articles
ISRAEL 72 On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . Kibbutz Ketura By Peter Abelow
48 Then & Now
74 INSIDE THE OU
58 30 for 30:
THE CHEF’S TABLE 82 New Twists On Traditional Dishes For Your Chanukah Celebrations By Norene Gilletz
Ten Changes from 1985 to 2015 By Steve Lipman and JA editorial staff 30 Changes over 30 Years By Steve Lipman and JA editorial staff
64 The Rav of Lida: On the Occasion of the 100th Yahrtzeit of Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, zt”l
BOOKS 86 Reviews in Brief By Gil Student PAGE 14
PAGE 20
From the editors of the OU-JLIC College Guide: It has come to our attention that the numbers given for Orthodox college students at the University of Maryland in the OU-JLIC College Guide were incorrect. There are 500 Orthodox students on campus. An average of 300 students attend Friday night davening and dinner and an average of 200 students attend Shabbat morning davening.
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By Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Cover: Andres Moncayo
Jewish Action seeks to provide a forum for a diversity of legitimate opinions within the spectrum of Orthodox Judaism. Therefore, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinion of the Orthodox Union. Jewish Action is published by the Orthodox Union • 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 212.563.4000. Printed Quarterly—Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, plus Special Passover issue. ISSN No. 0447-7049. Subscription: $16.00 per year; Canadian, $20.00; Overseas, $60.00. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jewish Action, 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004. Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 1
Letters THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION www.ou.org/jewish_action
Editor in Chief Nechama Carmel carmeln@ou.org
Assistant Editor Sara Olson Literary Editor Emeritus Matis Greenblatt Book Editor Rabbi Gil Student
Shomer Shabbat Boy Scouts Regarding the article “Shomer Shabbat Boy Scouting: Why Orthodox kids become Boy Scouts” (fall 2015), I want to point out that in the 1960s, Troop 298, under the banner of Connecticut Trails Girl Scouts and sponsored by the Young Israel of New Haven, was a full-fledged troop. The girls learned at an early age how to adhere to their religious beliefs and still be members of a larger group. Many of those girls, now women, have made aliyah; others are involved in Jewish organizations in America. g
JUDY ARONSON Former Troop 298 leader Jerusalem, Israel MIKI PAUKER Former Troop 298 leader New Haven, Connecticut
Remembering Rav Lichtenstein In response to your series of articles on Rav Aharon (“Remembering Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l,” fall 2015), I’d like to add my own recollections. Although I was a talmid in Rav Lichtenstein’s shiur at Yeshiva College at the end of the 1960s, this incident relates to my son Aryeh’s experience as a second-year student at Yeshivat Har Etzion during the Second Intifada. In the midst of the winter 2000 zeman, we received a call from Aryeh telling us that one of
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2 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Contributing Editors Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein • Dr. Judith Bleich Rabbi Emanuel Feldman • Rabbi Hillel Goldberg Rabbi Sol Roth • Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter Rabbi Berel Wein
the Ramim in the yeshivah was organizing a trip to Gaza to show support for one of the beleaguered Jewish communities there. Aryeh expressed a strong desire to go. I promptly left an indignant message for the director of the overseas program. How could the yeshivah allow the boys to be placed in a situation of such danger? A day or two later, we awoke to a call from the yeshivah telling us that our message had been received, but unfortunately the overseas program director was not in the country at the time. Nevertheless, the caller assured us in a firm tone that under no circumstances would a boy be allowed to travel to Gaza without the permission of his parents. When my wife asked me with whom at the yeshivah I had been speaking, I had to confess that I did not know, as the caller did not identify himself. Only after a conversation with our son were we able to piece together the caller’s identity. It had been Rav Aharon himself, a voice that I now recalled from shiur three decades earlier. Not only was he concerned about each and every student, he was concerned about their parents as well. Yehi zichro baruch.
Editorial Committee Rabbi David Bashevkin • Rabbi Binyamin Ehrenkranz Mayer Fertig • Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer • David Olivestone Gerald M. Schreck • Rabbi Gil Student Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Director, Design & Branding Carrie Beylus Design Deena Katzenstein Advertising Sales Joseph Jacobs Advertising • 201.591.1713 arosenfeld@josephjacobs.org
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ORTHODOX UNION Executive Vice President/Chief Professional Officer Allen I. Fagin Executive Vice President, Emeritus Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Senior Managing Director Rabbi Steven Weil Chief Communications Officer Mayer Fertig Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer Shlomo Schwartz Chief Human Resources Officer Lenny Bessler Chief Information Officer Samuel Davidovics President Martin Nachimson Chairman of the Board Howard Tzvi Friedman Vice Chairman of the Board Mordecai D. Katz Chairman, Board of Governors Henry Rothman
ABBE DIENSTAG Lawrence, New York
Vice Chairman, Board of Governors Gerald M. Schreck
Rethinking Our Approach to Kriah
Gerald M. Schreck, Chairman Joel M. Schreiber, Chairman Emeritus
I read with interest “Rethinking Our Approach to Kriah: Q&A with
© Copyright 2015 by the Orthodox Union. Eleven Broadway, New York, NY 10004. Telephone 212.563.4000 • www.ou.org.
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Jewish Action Committee
Kriah Specialist Rabbi Dr. Aharon Fried,” in the fall 2015 issue. (It should be keriah, as there is a sheva na at the beginning of the word.) I have been involved in education for over twenty-five years, in both formal and informal settings. Years ago, I founded a day school in Seattle, and I now run a day school on Long Island. I have learned that the key to teaching children correct and proficient keriah is actually a method that has been around for centuries. It is the method I was raised with growing up in an educated Sephardic community, and it continues to be used amongst the Syrian and Moroccan Sephardic communities in Brooklyn, Deal, Montreal, Israel and elsewhere. Children love to sing and can memorize entire songs and movie scripts just by osmosis. The act of listening to words and music together causes the brain to recall in a powerful way. Sephardic children are exposed to this on a regular basis. Anyone who has ever prayed in a Sephardic minyan knows that the entire tefillah is recited out loud by the shaliach tzibbur, and about 40 percent of the tefillah is chanted in unison by the entire community of worshippers. Children who hear this on a daily or weekly basis have been heard singing Pesukei Dezimra out loud while playing with their Legos. I memorized Shir Hashirim by age twelve, and my children by age ten, simply by listening to it every Friday night in shul and at home. The schools I run all have a Miqra program that requires students as young as six to recite pesukim out loud with ta’amei haMiqra. This method enhances comprehension, memory and precise pronunciation, leading to proficiency in keriah. Mishnah is never read, it is always chanted. If anyone should get credit for formalizing this method of study it is Rabbi Dan Be’eri, who founded the Barkai method in Israel. The Barkai method came to New York about twenty years ago and is in full swing in the Barkai Yeshivah of Brooklyn. Other day schools in the United States and Canada use this method as well. Children educated in this method are proficient readers and grasp the Hebrew language much more quickly. RABBI YAMIN LEVY Long Island Hebrew Academy Beth Hadassah Synagogue, Great Neck/Kings Point
A Woman in Search of a Wall I found Sarah Rudolph’s article (“A Woman in Search of a Wall,” fall 2015) to be well written and insightful, but also genuinely thought provoking. Sarah was surprisingly temperate for someone who has been excluded so many times from prayer spaces that she truly had a right to be included in. As a man, I am never going to have her experiences in a shul, and can only try to understand them. But I also feel that men have some responsibility—perhaps even the lion’s share—in creating prayer spaces so that Jewish women don’t have to go through Sarah’s travails in the future. g
The future is in your hands. Meet Ariel Ancer from Johannesburg, South Africa. A Computer Science major at Yeshiva University, Ariel is a Google Student Ambassador and the vice president of the International Student Committee. Last year he was instrumental in creating YU’s inaugural Hackathon, a competition that engaged computer programmers for 24 hours of creative collaboration and innovative engineering. Whether Ariel’s coding on his laptop or decoding Gemara, he is committed to deepening his Torah knowledge while preparing for his career. This is the essence of Torah Umadda and what sets YU apart. Picture yourself at YU. #NowhereButHere
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Sarah notes the creation of an “improvised women’s section” in one case, and then laments the lack of an invitation to it. Is it really asking so much to start with the assumption that women will be davening? When did it become appropriate to assume they wouldn’t be davening? As a general rule, shuls and Jewish organizations should always have a space for women to daven at services. Further, even in the shuls where women do have a space on a regular basis, we should ask whether that space is really appropriate to the dignity of the women who are using it. Rabbanim and lay leaders, especially gabbaim, need to make more of an effort to understand the davening experiences of the women in their shuls and make changes to improve them. I am blessed to be in a community that at least tries to make the effort, and it has improved the davening for everyone—men and women. I hope this article will inspire other communities to do the same. DAVID ZAKAR Aspen Hill, Maryland
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Meet Nicole Bock from Teaneck, New Jersey. A Mathematics major and Art History minor at Yeshiva University, Nicole is a YU Honors student whose summer internship at Citigroup resulted in a job offer in its Capital Markets Origination division. While YU prepares Nicole to meet the challenges of women pursuing STEM career paths, her minor in Art History fulfills another passion. Nicole’s commitment to broaden the scope of her education centers around her Judaic studies at YU. This is the essence of Torah Umadda and what sets YU apart. Picture yourself at YU. #NowhereButHere
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From the Desk of ALLEN I. FAGIN, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union
Israel On My Mind sukkot in infinitely varied sizes and styles dominate the streetscape. The markets are filled with yom tov shoppers, pushing and shoving in the finest Israeli tradition. My wife and I joined the holiday frenzy in Machane Yehuda, stopping at Mamlechet Hahalvah (“Kingdom of Halvah”) to load up on a family favorite. We were in Yerushalayim not only to celebrate the chag, but also the bar mitzvah of one of our grandchildren. As my grandson leined Parashat Ha’azinu just steps from the Kotel, our joy was boundless. During Chol ’m writing this message in Hamoed, like most Israelis and visimid-October, a few short weeks tors, we spent our time enjoying tiyulim. Each of us has a particularly after I returned from Israel, memorable recollection of these opwhere I celebrated Sukkot with portunities to see and appreciate the my family. There is nothing as incomuniqueness of our homeland. My speparably, magnificently festive as Yerushalayim just prior to, and during, cial moment was our family’s visit to an army base housing Oketz (literally Sukkot. The city is illuminated by the “sting”), the K-9 unit of the IDF. We incandescent sunshine of the premarveled at the extraordinary training rainy season. Everywhere one looks, received by bomb-sniffing dogs, Popular cartoon on Palestinian social media and were moved by a unique cemetery for canines killed in the line of duty. Every chayal we met stressed that a human life had been saved for every dog that lost its life. When we visited the kennel housing these special ani-
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6 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
mals, I paused for a moment at a nondescript sign hanging on the door. It was a list of instructions detailing the halachically appropriate way of handling the dogs on Shabbat and yamim tovim. It is the essence of our Eretz Hakodesh that these brave young men and women can simultaneously uphold the Torah and insure the country’s peace and security. May Hashem guard and protect them. During Chol Hamoed, the joy and beauty of the Sukkot holiday were shattered by the brutal murder of Rabbi Eitam Henkin, thirty-one, and his wife Naama, thirty, as they drove in the Shomron with their four young children, ranging in age from four months to nine years. Rabbi Henkin was a brilliant Torah scholar, his wife Naama a gifted graphic artist and designer. As I write this, violence has spread across Israel—from Yerushalayim to Petach Tikva, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Gat, Tel Aviv, Afula, Kiryat Arba and elsewhere—bringing countless new attacks and new tragedies, and ever more families mourning the loss of loved ones. How do we persuade the world to take notice, to care? How do we persuade the world that these heinous acts are not—and can never be equated with—political actions by rivals on the geopolitical stage? If only we could take the world by the neck and shake it until it recognizes that these acts are murders, perpetrated by madmen filled with the hatred of
Jews—murderers no different than marauding bands of Crusaders; murderers no different than rampaging Cossacks; murderers no different than those who slaughtered six million kedoshim because they were Jews. Today, these murderers are nourished by the culture of hate that permeates the Palestinian media and is imbedded in their schools. Just look at the image on the previous page—a cartoon displayed prominently on Palestinian social media, depicting Jews walking on a knife blade towards a grave shaped like, in their words, “Greater Palestine.” The headstone reads: “Cemetery of the invaders.” The world’s silence in the face of such unmitigated hatred is deafening. Worse, it is sickening in its blatant hypocrisy. When a Palestinian in the Old City slashed an Israeli woman and her infant son, stabbed her husband to death together with a rabbi who had rushed to their rescue, and was halted in his rampage only when he was shot, the BBC headline read: “Palestinian Shot Dead After Fatal Stabbing in Jerusalem; 2 Israeli Victims Also Killed.” The Palestinian Authority’s official announcement condemned Israel for killing a seemingly innocent Palestinian, without ever mentioning the brutal, unprovoked murder of Israelis. Watch the video, it doesn’t lie. The stabbed woman, Adele Benita, described from her hospital bed how Arab bystanders had “murder in their eyes,” how they laughed and spit at her as she sought help, bleeding profusely while running from the scene of her husband’s murder. Following the murder of the Henkins, hy”d, Palestinians handed out sweets, waved PA flags and launched fireworks in celebration. Watch the video, it doesn’t lie. UN Chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing of Palestinians, but failed even to mention the Jewish victims. We live in a world of perverted moral equivalency, where brutal murders are equated with painstaking efforts to maintain security. It is only in a world of such demented parallels that our State Department condemns the violence, and urges “all sides” to avoid escalating tension. Evenhandedness is praiseworthy, but only when both antagonists are similarly situated. When they are not—and as we have seen over and over in the past days and years, they most assuredly are not—evenhandedness is a moral abdication; evenhandedness in the face of murder and unadulterated hatred must be exposed for what it is. There are not two sides to every story; there is only justice and decency. At Rabbi Eitam Henkin’s levaya, he was eulogized by his brother, Dr. Yagil Henkin. His words should echo like a clarion call to all who seek to reduce the murder of innocents to just another political controversy: . . . it was not blind fate which took the lives of Eitam and Naama. They are “harugei malchut,” the term used for those who died as part of the unceasing struggle of the Jewish people . . . Eitam and Naama were not killed by “terror.” They are victims of an act of hostility. Human beings driven by hatred went out to the road in order to murder Jews, and they succeeded. Immediately after the conclusion of yom tov, I, together with Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU executive vice president, emeritus; Rabbi Avi Berman, director of OU Israel; and Mr. Norman Schmutter, paid a shiva visit to Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbanit Chana Henkin in their home in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Yerushalayim. I first met Rabbanit Henkin when she stayed in my home some twenty years ago, on one of her first trips to the United States to raise funds for what
The future is now. Apply today. At Yeshiva University, growing your understanding and commitment to Jewish values is not a club or an extracurricular activity, it is YU. From Talmud to Mathematics, and Tanakh to Biology, combining Torah study and Jewish values with a rigorous academic curriculum is the hallmark of YU. With student programs across our campuses and around the world, YU takes a global approach to learning, education and values, creating a full college experience. This is the essence of Torah Umadda and what sets YU apart. Picture yourself at YU. #NowhereButHere
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would become Nishmat, that truly extraordinary educational enterprise and makom Torah. She and her husband are remarkable individuals and have dedicated their lives to the betterment of Klal Yisrael. It was impossible to find adequate words of nechamah. Outside the Henkins’ building, three Druze men stood in flowing white robes, one of whom was the father of Druze policeman Zidan Sayif, who was killed trying to rescue the victims of the Har Nof massacre. Inside, a young man whose parents had been murdered in a terror attack twelve years ago had come to offer words of consolation. I could not help but recognize the growing—the ever-growing—fraternity of mourners, united by the common bond of pain and loss and the consequences of senseless hatred. When will it end? When will this fraternity dissolve for lack of members? When will we stop visiting parents and grandparents, husbands and wives, to offer words of condolence to those who cannot be consoled? And where are our own leaders? Why
have they not condemned—in a clear, unequivocal and forceful way—the indiscriminate slaughter of Jewish innocents? I have been to the White House several times in the past year. On one of those occasions, the President turned to the representatives of the major American Jewish organizations assembled in the Roosevelt Room and, in a highly emotional moment, stated solemnly that
When will we stop visiting parents and grandparents, husbands and wives, to offer words of condolence to those who cannot be consoled?
he would consider it a personal moral failure if Israel’s security was diminished on his watch. But Israel’s security is more than the power of its army and air force and missile defense system. Israel’s security includes—indeed, it rests upon—the safety and well-being of its citizens; the ability to drive from place to place without being stoned; the ability to walk freely and confidently in the Old City; the ability to daven in shul without fear of attack; the ability to live a peaceful, normal life where nine year olds don’t say Kaddish for saintly fathers and mothers murdered because they are Jews. The moral failure, Mr. President, is in not telling it like it is, without equivocation, without moral equivalency when there is none; without covering for unmitigated hatred through the niceties of diplomatic discourse. May God grant you the wisdom and the courage to speak the truth and protect its sanctity. May Hashem bless us all and may the mitzvah of ve’samachta be’chagecha be fulfilled in fullness and in universal joy. g
Why did the Chofetz Chaim & R' Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky start EZRAS TORAH?
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ezrAsOur new loc02, Suite 2 2 Route NY 10970 1540 m a, 08 Po o:n845.362.1672 e Phon 845.362.74orah.org Fax: ity@ezrast h.org tora char E-mail:site: www.ezras Web
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Funds, Wedding Orphan Assistance, Yom Tov Grants and Special Need's Grants and Loans. Make a life of Torah devotion and commitment an everlasting edifice that will bring us the Rabbonim, Dayanim and Leaders of tomorrow!
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Ezras Torah publishes the famed Ezras Torah Luach
President’s Message
By Martin Nachimson
Creating Light in the Darkness
F
or months . . . Israel [has been] faced with a new terrorist phenomenon . . . violent uprisings by the Palestinians . . . its purpose was to drive [Israelis] from all of Eretz Yisrael—including Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv . . . Instead of focusing on the Palestinian aggressors . . . the media chose, from the outset, to focus on the Israeli response, thereby turning the victim into a villian. The above words seem eerily current, and yet . . . they are not. They were written almost thirty years ago. Writing in this very column in 1988, then OU President Sidney Kwestel described the violent uprisings by the Palestinians in Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza. Not much has changed in the past few decades. Then it was the PLO; today it is Hamas and the PA. Then it was Arafat; today it is Abbas. The players may have changed, but their script is still the same: to maim and murder Jews; to eradicate the State of Israel. Israelis are living in a chronic state of terror and fear as they go about their daily lives. Ter-
10 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
rorists can be lurking anywhere—at bus stops, in supermarkets. For our brothers and sisters in Israel, terror is a constant shadow. As I write this, there are reports of more tragedies in Eretz Yisrael. Richard Lakin, an American who made aliyah had been shot in the head and stabbed multiple times while riding the number 78 bus in Jerusalem. I just read in the news that he succumbed to his wounds. Almost one year after he was severely injured in the Har Nof massacre, Chaim Yechiel Rothman succumbed to his wounds; Rothman had been in a coma for nearly a year following the attack. He too just passed away. Lakin, Rothman, Henkin—how many more thousands of pure neshamot will continue to die al kiddush Hashem? The names change from year to year, from decade to decade, but the violence continues. Years ago, during a particularly difficult time for Israel, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm offered the following insight: The Talmud teaches us that the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles begins when the sun sets. The Chanukah lights serve no function in the daytime. When the sun shines, there is no need for candles. “When things are going well,” he writes, "faith does not represent a particularly great achievement.” Thousands of years of Jewish history have taught us this, says Rabbi Lamm: in periods of darkness, we light candles. Despite the terror and the fear, we will prevail. Our history is one long saga of perseverance, faith and en-
durance. Throughout the periods of darkness, we have always known how to create light, how to rise above the despair, how to fortify ourselves spiritually. My own parents were fortunate to have arrived in this country well before the Holocaust devastated European Jewry. But many of us have known survivors who could have easily succumbed to despair. They didn’t. Thousands of survivors came to this country as penniless immigrants and rebuilt their lives, step by step. They, like Jews throughout history, knew how to light candles. It is my fervent hope that by the time this magazine hits the stands, these words will no longer be necessary. But if, God forbid, the terror in Israel continues unabated—what should our response be? Let us take a lesson from Chanukah: let us create light in the darkness. Halachah states that when lighting Chanukah candles, we proceed from least to most. In accordance with the ruling of Beit Hillel, we light one candle on the first night, two on the second, and so on. The number of candles increases each night, because as the Gemara states, “ma’alin be’kodesh,” one must rise, increase and progress in holiness. But this principle does not only apply to Chanukah candles—it applies to how we approach life in general: ma’alin be’kodesh. This is especially true in times of tragedy. Let us resolve to deepen our emunah during these frightening times and strengthen ourselves through tefillah and Torah—our genuine protection in this intifada. g
Chairman’s Message
B
ack in the fall of 1985, the first issue of Jewish Action made its much-anticipated appearance. The brainchild of the then OU Publications Chairman Joel Schreiber and Rabbi Matis Greenblatt, the magazine was to be a thoughtful, intellectually sophisticated publication that would “project the interests, concerns and values of the Orthodox Union and the Orthodox world.” The very first issue, a slim publication with a mere fifty-six pages, included features on the “Mi Yehudi” issue, an article entitled, “Threats to Israeli Air Superiority,” and a survey of adult Jewish education programs. Eventually, the magazine grew to occupy a unique role in Orthodox life. Known for its refreshing honesty and openness, Jewish Action has featured prestigious rabbis and thinkers representing the full spectrum of Orthodox life, from Rav Aharon Feldman to Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, from Rav Yitzchak Hutner to Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook. It has tackled issues—even uncomfortable ones— such as homosexuality in the Orthodox community; the very real spiritual challenges on the college campus; domestic abuse and the dearth of Modern Orthodox leaders, to name a few.
By Gerald M. Schreck
Thirty years later, the magazine is still going strong. Anniversaries are a time when magazines tend to look both inward and outward; in this issue, we do both. This thirtieth anniversary issue includes a timeline depicting a few high points of the magazine’s history, a fun infographic contrasting 1985 to 2015 (e.g., housing prices then and now) and a list of “Thirty Changes in Jewish Life over Thirty Years.” Each of these features required extensive research. Becoming veritable archivists, our editorial staff diligently plowed through hundreds of issues of Jewish Action. Coming up with thirty changes that have taken place in the broader Jewish world and, in particular, the Orthodox world, over the past thirty years was not terribly difficult. The challenge, however, was in the selection process: which changes should make the list? I’m sure readers will take issue with some of our choices (how could you leave out—?). Feel free to send your feedback to ja@ou.org, and we may include your suggestions in the online version of the magazine. As part of our thirtieth celebration, we’ve also reprinted some of the best writing that has appeared in our pages over the years. Members of our editorial board spent many painstaking days reading, choosing and debating which articles to include; there were so many excellent choices. With space a concern, unfortunately, we could only reprint a handful of these memorable articles, but I invite you to visit our web site where you can access our online archive at ou.org/jewish_action. (To search for articles, use the search bar on the top of the page.) While our online archive is not comprehensive, we are in the process of making every article dating back to 1985 available to our readers. When, as an OU board member, I took on the chairmanship of Jewish Action some ten years ago, I knew I had big shoes to fill. For some twenty years,
Gerald M. Schreck is the chairman of the Jewish Action Committee. 12 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Jewish Action was Joel Schreiber’s passion—he put his heart and soul into making it a first-rate publication in the Orthodox world, one that is found on Ivy League campuses as well as in libraries, yeshivot and in tens of thousands of homes throughout the US and Israel. I am indebted to you, Joel, for enabling me to build on a quality publication that continues to publish some of the best thinkers and writers in the Orthodox Jewish world. While Rabbi Greenblatt retired last year and is not as involved with the magazine as he was years ago, his contribution to Jewish Action is immeasurable. It was his vision that molded the magazine and created an unparalleled venue for high-level discourse on topics of interest to the Orthodox world. The magazine’s role, to Rabbi Greenblatt, was neither to entertain nor even to educate; it was to enlighten. I am indebted to you, Rabbi Greenblatt, for infusing this magazine with vision and purpose. Finally, I want to thank the wonderfully dedicated editors who helped shape this magazine: Heidi (Tenzer) Pekarsky (19851992); Charlotte Friedland (1992-2001), and Nechama Carmel (2001-present). Each of these talented and capable women has helped make Jewish Action an award-winning publication whose excellence is acknowledged beyond the Orthodox world. I am deeply indebted to each of them as well. I specfically want to thank our outstanding editor, Nechama Carmel, with whom I’ve collaborated over these past ten years, and who with our amazing Editorial Board, has raised the bar of journalistic standards. Last but certainly not least, it’s feedback from our readership who expect the very best in Jewish journalism that fuels our desire to meet those expectations. Thanks to each and every Jewish Action reader! As you read through this special anniversary issue, I hope you enjoy learning about thirty years of Jewish Action, and thirty years of American Jewish life. I know I did. g
Technology
By Eli Shapiro
Deena Katzenstein
T
“But everyone has one!” “I’m the only one in my class without a ( fill in the blank).”
I
t’s that time of year again; the pressure on parents to find meaningful Chanukah gifts for their children converges with the social pressure to purchase the latest and greatest gadgets. Tablets and cell phones top the list of tech gifts, and the availability and affordability of personal mobile devices make it increasingly common to see children as young as first grade with their own portable devices. A recent study out of England conducted by Childwise Research found that most children aged seven to eleven own an electronic device of some kind (93
percent), including more than two thirds (69 percent) who have a tablet computer and three in five (59 percent) who own a gaming console like an Xbox or a Wii.1 In 2014, The Digital Citizenship Project, a program I founded that promotes healthy and responsible use of technology, surveyed a sample of Jewish day school students from New York and Florida and found that nearly 70 percent of the middle school respondents owned a smartphone and 59 percent owned a tablet. However, only 15 percent had some form of parental control devices activated and only about half of children (55 percent) said their parents had spoken with them about “ways to behave towards other people online” and about their behavior on their cell phones.2 What
we are seeing play out is the ubiquitous nature of technology, the pressure on parents to keep their kids technologically relevant and the challenge of effectively managing children’s technology ownership and use in a healthy and responsible way. Parents often ask me, “What is the right age at which my child should get a cell phone?” or “Which is a better device for my child, a Kindle or an iPad?” My response is always the same: the age of the child or type of device is less important than how you introduce and oversee your child’s use of that device. Giving a portable device to a ten-year-old while providing policies, procedures, expectations and consistent follow through is far better than giving that same device to a fifteen-year-old without providing any parameters whatsoever. I was recently working with a child who was struggling academically and having a hard time focusing in class. In the course of my conversation with his parents, I discovered that this sixth grader was frequently up until 3:00 in the morning playing on his iPad. When I suggested to the mother that her child should be responsible to bring her the iPad every night at 10:00 pm, she responded, “But it’s his.” This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing parents these days: managing their children’s technology in a generation of entitlement. Filters: A Double-Edged Sword? Recent communal efforts to promote filters and monitoring software have served as a double-edged sword. Organized campaigns to encourage the use of filters and monitoring software have created an awareness of the benefits of this important tool, but have also given us a false sense of security by making us believe that these tools alone minimize the negative impact of technology. Filters and software are critical for effectively managing our
Dr. Eli Shapiro is a licensed clinical social worker with a doctorate in education. Dr. Shapiro is a noted writer and lecturer on family and community issues, and is the creator and director of The Digital Citizenship Project (www.thedigitalcitizenship.com). 14 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
children’s technology use, but without clear parental guidelines and policies, we are missing the bigger picture of technology’s impact. For most people, the term “responsible technology use” is limited to protecting children from the dangers of the Internet, such as graphic content or online strangers. The truth is, however, that technology presents a host of challenges beyond Internet content and stranger danger. It presents very real risks in the social, psychological and behavioral realms. In these areas, filters are ineffective. So what is the answer? Teaching children to be responsible digital citizens. There is no question that technology adversely affects our children socially. It conditions them to be distracted, severely limiting their social skills development. We have all witnessed groups of teens sitting together, but separately engrossed in their own portable electronic devices; iTeens are particularly vulnerable to becoming disconnected from the world around them and missing opportunities to make meaningful connections with one another. Perhaps most distressingly, technology enables kids to easily exclude or act aggressively toward their peers. A 2011 research study by the Pew Research Center found that 88 percent of social media-proficient American teens have witnessed other people being mean or cruel online.3 Our yeshivah community is not immune to this form of aggressive behavior. In a recent study on cyberbullying in Modern Orthodox Jewish middle schools across the country, students reported engaging in cyberbullying at similar rates to students in the secular population, roughly between 9 and 12 percent.4 In 2013, Quantified Impressions, a communications analytics company, 16 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
found that even adults are experiencing a decline in the quality of their social interactions by only making eye contact 30 to 60 percent of the time in an average conversation, with much of that time being taken up by checking texts and e-mails on their cell phones. Ideally, people should be making eye contact 60 to 70 percent of the time to create a sense of emotional connection.5 Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kneseth Israel (“The White Shul”) in Far Rockaway, is fond of saying that “advancements in communication have not been matched by the art of connectivity.” iAddiction While digital technology is merely a distraction for many, for some kids it can become an addiction. In other words, they engage in texting and social networking despite negative consequences. These consequences can include loss of social relationships as a result of intrusive and overbearing texting, inability to reduce texting behavior, failure to fulfill real-world obligations and a departure from communal norms. Tamyra Pierce, a professor and director of social media and integrated marketing at California State University, understands this type of texting to be a result of social anxiety, where
individuals are more comfortable with the non face-to-face nature that digital technology offers and therefore become dependent on it for their social connectivity.6 This might also offer some insight into the issue of “half-Shabbos,” whereby otherwise Shabbos-observant teens engage in social networking and texting on Shabbos. For some teens, the idea of separating from the device that provides them with their primary avenue for anxiety-free social engagement and reduces their fear about missing out on peer group social activities is just too much to bear. If we want to deal with the half-Shabbos issue, we need to address the overwhelming sense of anxiety that some adolescents experience when forced to be without their devices. Kids should also be made aware of the public and permanent nature of one’s digital footprint. A digital footprint is comprised of the remnants of online posts, comments, social media conversations, tweets and even web browsing history. Pretty much anything that is done online can shape an observer’s opinion of an individual. In the coming years, one’s digital footprint may have as significant an impact on one’s career opportunities as his academic performance. Furthermore, as an individual’s digital footprint becomes more searchable and
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available, its impact will be even greater. Children today are often unaware of how much of an effect their comments, posts and opinions can have on others and themselves. Their impulsive and uninhibited actions can result in unanticipated consequences both immediately, as well as far off in the future. iEverything Parenting How can we help children maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing its inherent risks? Technology education expert Temima Feldman offers a few suggestions: • Have a set time when devices (cell phones, iPads, tablets, et cetera) must be off and out of reach. • Have a central charging station where kids and teens have to leave their phones and iPads to charge overnight. This is one of the best ways to combat both sleep deprivation and late-night texting. • Set the tone in your house that technology use is a public activity—this includes a policy that requires doors to bedrooms to be open while technology is being used. This creates an environment of open communication. • Use the parental control options on your child’s devices. • Model the behaviors you want to instill in your child. • Most importantly, discuss with your child both your and their technology habits. Additionally, I would add the following: • Get your kids involved in recreational activities that promote genuine interaction with family members and peers. A recent study out of UCLA found that pre-teens who participated in an outdoor education camp without their technology significantly improved their social skills and their ability to read social cues in only five days.7 The study
suggests that not only can we prevent our children from becoming socially disconnected by reducing screen time, but reduction can also reverse its negative social impacts. • Help your child understand the public and permanent nature of digital communications and how they and others can really be hurt by it. Assist your child in creating a positive online footprint by going out of his or her way to communicate positive messages and use the digital realm to engage in tzedakah and acts of kindness. • Most importantly, maintain a healthy relationship and open communication with your children. Procedures and policies for children’s devices are most effective when carried out within the context of a positive relationship, which goes hand in hand with effective communication.
Make the Relationship a Priority There is no better way to manage your children’s technology use than by having a good relationship with them. Most likely when you ask your child when she comes home from school, “How was your day?,” she responds, “Fine.” And when you follow up with “What did you do today?,” she responds with, “Nothing.” Yet most of us, myself included, still occasionally engage in this disin-
genuous dialogue. Instead of the above, try things like, “Tell me about your day,” “Tell me the most interesting thing you learned today,” or “Who did you play with during recess?” These open-ended or detail-oriented questions will foster better communication and will ultimately make the rules and conversations about technology (and other topics!) that much easier. Ours is the first generation of iEverything parenting. Our children are digital natives while we are the digital immigrants, and the challenges of raising healthy and socially competent children are great. But with a thoughtful approach and open communication, we can succeed in helping our children maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing its negative impact. Notes 1. “Start-Rite-Research with School Children,” July 2015, http://www.start-rite.co.uk/ wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HERE.pdf. 2. E. Shapiro, “Technology Ownership, Attitudes and Behaviors of Jewish Middle School Students” (Unpublished Research Manuscript, The Digital Citizenship Project, New York, 2014). 3. A. Lenhart et al., “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites,” Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2011, http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/11/09/ teens-kindness-and-cruelty-on-social-network-sites/. 4. R. Novick and E. Shapiro, “The Evaluation of Cyber Bullying in Coeducational Jewish Orthodox Middle Schools” (EdD diss., 2012). 5. Sue Shellenbarger, “Just Look Me in the Eye Already: The Workplace Perils of Staring at Our Phones and Elsewhere; The Ideal Gaze Lasts 7 to 10 Seconds,” Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2013, http://www.wsj.com/ articles/SB1000142412788732480980457851 1290822228174. 6. Tamyra Pierce, “Social Anxiety and Technology: Face-to-Face Communication Versus Technological Communication Among Teens,” Computers in Human Behavior 25 (2009): 1367-1372. 7. Yalda T. Uhls, et al, “Five Days at Outdoor Education Camp Without Screens Improves Preteen Skills With Nonverbal Emotion Cues,” Computers in Human Behavior 39 (2014): 387-392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. chb.2014.05.036.
Listen to Dr. Eli Shapiro discuss the challenge of our children’s technology at https://www.ou.org/life/technology/savitsky_shapiro. 18 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
“
“The eighth year is harder than the seventh.” SHIMON CHAZUT, Israeli farmer observing his seventh Shmitah
The Struggle of Shmitah Continues.
Planting begins anywhere from November 2015 to May 2016, and then it takes months [see chart] until farmers have a harvest to bring to market. The “8th Year of Shmitah” remains critical in helping Israel’s farmers to complete the shmitah cycle and get back on their feet, cultivating anew the sacred soil of Eretz Yisrael.
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APRIL 2016
MARCH 2016
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Tomato, Pepper and Cucumber
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Nectarine, Peach and Plum
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S u p p o rt i n g t h e r est o f I s rae l
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Rabbi Yosef Adler Rabbi Herschel Billet Rabbi Yosef Blau Rabbi Pini Dunner Rabbi Shmuel Goldin
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Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld Rabbi Allen Schwartz Rav David Stav Rabbi Kalman Topp Rabbi Steven Weil
By: Bayla Sheva Brenner
By Bayla Sheva Brenner
"
W
e live in a society that is awash in drug use. Drugs are everywhere—even in Torah institutions . . . . Children from the finest families may use drugs,” Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, noted psychiatrist and specialist in addictions, wrote in these pages back in 2008. Just a few short years later, substance abuse in the Orthodox community has become an inescapable reality. It’s more rampant and far more deadly. “We’ve had over two dozen deaths related to overdoses in our community in the past year,” says Zvi Gluck, founder of Amudim Community Resources, a Manhattan-based organization offering assistance to Orthodox Jews in crisis. More Accessible— More Deadly Thanks to technology, users can even buy drugs in the comfort of their homes. Sedatives and painkillers can be purchased without a prescription from “Dr. Google,” says Rabbi Eitan Eckstein,
founder and CEO of Retorno Jewish International Rehabilitation Center, a drug rehabilitation facility located in Israel. Moreover, obtaining drugs today requires little skill. “The drugs can come straight to your door,” says Rabbi Dov Silver, founder and executive vice president of Madraigos, a social services organization in Woodmere, New York. “Dealers make it easy for you; they’ll meet you in your neighborhood or make home deliveries.” For many, all it takes is a visit to the family medicine cabinet. Common prescription pain medications such as OxyContin and Percocet, both of which contain the narcotic alkaloid oxycodone, can lead to serious, life-threatening addictions. “Painkillers have become huge,” says Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, founder and director of Ohr Naava Women’s Torah Center in Brooklyn. “You get a root canal, you get a tooth pulled, and you get codeine. With all the prescribed oxycodone [out there], it’s easy to get one’s hands on.”
Not surprisingly, abuse of prescribed opiate painkillers often leads to heroin use. “There’s a [typical] progression,” says Menachem Poznanski, the clinical director of The Living Room, a post-rehab program in Brooklyn and Wesley Hills, New York, catering to Orthodox teens. “Pot to painkillers to heroin. [Moreover, nowadays], heroin is cheaper and more available.” The United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that heroin abuse among first-time users has increased by nearly sixty percent in the last decade. While illegally obtained prescription painkillers have grown more pricey and harder to obtain, in some US locations, heroin can cost less than a pack of cigarettes. In a recent Washington Post article (“Why a Bag of Heroin Costs Less Than a Pack of Cigarettes,” by Lenny Bernstein, August 27, 2015), Joseph Moses, an agent for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is quoted saying that since streetbought opiate pills have become too expensive, Mexican drug cartels have increased heroin production; they have also developed networks to move the drugs east of the Mississippi. “Despite the efforts of the DEA and other law enforcement agencies, there is plenty of it [heroin],” says Moses, “which keeps the price down despite the seemingly insatiable demand.” To attract repeat customers, dealers sell pumped-up versions of drugs, spicing marijuana with cocaine and heroin. Teens are getting addicted to cocaine and heroin because they are buying marijuana laced with these drugs. “We are seeing a lot more overdoses within the frum community [because of this],” says Moshe Yachnes, an Orthodox therapist at Sunspire Health Recovery Road, a
Bayla Sheva Brenner is a senior writer in the OU Communications and Marketing Department. 20 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
drug rehab in Florida. “People are mixing drugs and frankly, it’s more dangerous.” Younger and Younger What’s even more startling is that teens are using drugs at younger and younger ages. “My younger kids had some friends over, and one of them, who was about twelve, was making jokes about weed,” says a mother of a drug-dependent teen. “I was shocked.” Our Place, an Orthodox-run drop-in center for troubled Jewish youth in Brooklyn, services around 800 to 1,000 teens each year, representing every segment of the community.
“When you have this culture of recreational drug use, it leads to other things . . . Nobody wakes up one day and says, ‘Hey, I want to try heroin or cocaine.’ It is a progression.”
Our Place staff report that it’s not uncommon to find substance-dependent kids as young as fourteen coming to the center. “We’re addressing a population that [consists of ], for the most part, drop outs from school,” says Rabbi Aryeh Young, executive director of Our Place. “They’re roaming the streets; they come in late at night, get up late in the morning and avoid communicating with their families. Some are living in crash pads, with friends or with someone they met at a party. Others are passing through stages of homelessness.” Shifting Attitudes Yet another factor contributing to the drug epidemic, says Poznanski, is society’s changing
Kids in Pain
As told to Bayla Sheva Brenner
One of our kids dropped out of high school at fourteen. He stayed in bed every day and was out every night smoking pot. He was in really bad shape. My husband and I began attending a support group for parents of kids on drugs. We learned that kids are not taking drugs to punish their parents. They are out of control because they suffered some form of trauma. They’re kids who have been hurt and are self-medicating. We’re taught to show our child unconditional love and let the other kids in the family know that this child is sick, that he has an illness and we are going to take care of him. These kids aren’t rebelling; they’re suffering. We don’t call them kids at risk; we call them kids in pain. The idea is to keep them close to home, get them the things that could make them feel better, and love them where they are at and for who they are. It cuts down the fighting. You’re not yelling at them. After a while they see that their parents love them and they stop and look at themselves; hopefully, they get [to the point where they] want to help themselves. The group leader asked us if our son likes to smoke cigarettes. He does. He told us to buy him a carton of cigarettes and write him a letter telling him much we love him. We did. We placed the letter on his bed. This was the first step. Within twenty-four hours of that, he came out of his room and said, “Wow! Thanks so much.” What kind of parents would want to buy their fourteen year old a carton of cigarettes? We continued to send him the message that we know you’re not well; we know you’re suffering; we are here to help relieve your suffering until you feel better and, when you do, we are here to help you get what you need. Within a few weeks, we started to see changes. We started to treat all of his friends this way as well; some of them were coming to our home because their parents had thrown them out. Since our son dropped out of school, there have been deaths every year of kids who were thrown out of their homes. Communities are ostracizing their youth. We turned our home into a very loving environment for these kids. It’s a whole different way of looking at the problem. For the most part, it’s working.
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 21
Parenting an Addict As told to Bayla Sheva Brenner
I knew my teenage son was unhappy, but I didn’t know what was going on. He was getting kicked out of one school and then another. There were circumstances at home, in particular a painful divorce, that were making him unhappy. I attributed everything to that. For a long time, I simply didn’t know what was really going on. I finally found out what was happening when he went to his first rehab. In rehab, they have the kid sit down and tell the parent the history of his drug use. I was blown away. He said that he was fourteen when he started using drugs; he got it from his friends. I was shocked that he had started so young and I didn’t know. He wound up hooked on heroin. He got [involved with the] worst drugs while at yeshivah. Drugs are everywhere. And it’s affecting every community. He had friends [who were users] from broken homes and [users] from the most chashuv [prestigious] families, the most learned homes with [seemingly] no problems; users run the gamut. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. The yeshivas and schools have to be more open-minded and talk about it, to warn kids about the dangers. A good friend of my son died of an overdose. If you don’t talk about drugs, they become more exciting. Kids don’t understand how addictive drugs are. After leaving that first rehab, my son relapsed. I realized then this is not over—it never will be. He wasn’t living at home at the time, so I didn’t see the warning signs. Someone called me to ask how he was doing. I said, “He’s great; he’s in school, he’s working.” He asked, “Have you noticed he lost a lot of attitude towards mind-altering substances. “We live in a world where marijuana will be legal [in nearly every state] in the next five or ten years. You have a generation of kids who are not sure that pot is a drug. There are a lot of kids experimenting with pot. [It’s hard to] find a yeshivah where kids aren’t smoking pot.” According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), citing SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2014, marijuana (cannabis) is the single-most used illicit drug in the United States. Many of its users have been taken to poison control centers with symptoms that include rapid heart rate, vomiting, agitation, confusion and hallucinations. In a few cases it has been associated with heart attacks. Furthermore, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in June 2015 reported that synthetic marijuana—cannabis leaves sprayed with a mixture of psychoactive chemicals and known by names such as K2 and 22 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
weight?” That was it. Imagine if [that person] hadn’t called me; you can’t afford to not know the truth. If there’s a drug problem, there are signs. They get irritable, secretive, irresponsible, nasty; they start missing appointments, meetings, school. They could lose or gain weight. When they’re smoking weed, they gain weight. If you know your kid, you can see the changes. You have to be educated. Before I was knowledgeable about these things, I kept things around that I shouldn’t have. If you have a child like this, you shouldn’t even have wine in the house. You could notice money missing and you think “no, he would never,” . . . but they get desperate. I sent him to one rehab facility, then another. There are many, many places out there. I’m always scared for him. These kids don’t want to do drugs. They can’t control themselves. I joined a parents’ support group. I daven a lot. Once you realize that [the addict] has to fix the problem himself, you stop running around to get help. At the programs they are taught what they have to do. There are amazing people out there who suffered through their own addictions, and after they turned their lives around, they decided to dedicate their lives to helping others struggling with this. Right now, my son is in a sober living facility. It’s a safe environment. He’s with others in recovery. He gets a lot of group therapy and goes to twelve-step meetings. We can’t afford to shut the doors on these kids; then we’ll lose them.
Spice—is proving to be lethal. According to the CDC report, fifteen deaths associated with the use of synthetic marijuana were reported at forty-eight poison control centers across the US between January and May 2015, versus five deaths in 2014; that’s three times as many deaths in the space of a single year. Use of marijuana also leads to abuse of stronger, more deadly drugs. “When you have this culture of recreational drug use, it leads to other things,” says Poznanski. “Nobody wakes up one day and says, ‘Hey, I want to try heroin or cocaine.’ It is a progression.” A Chance for Sobriety Addicts who want to turn their lives around must first enter a detox program. The detoxification process removes all traces of drugs and alcohol from the body. Once an individual gets through the initial detox, he can progress to the rehabilitation process. This is where pa-
tients, via either an inpatient or outpatient program, come to understand the reasons behind their addictions, and learn how to cope with the stressors and trigger points that lead to drug use and, ultimately, addiction. When a patient completes a rehabilitation program, it’s not the end of the line. For addicts, recovery is a lifelong process. Former addicts often need assistance as they transition back to normal life. Some choose to enter a “sober living” program for approximately six months or more, where they learn how to live drug-free and better manage the stressors that led to their substance abuse. In the United States, alcohol and drug addiction treatment has become a multi-billion dollar industry; there are more than 14,500 specialized drug treatment facilities that provide counseling and other services to those with substance use disorders. The initial detox can cost between $300 to $800 a day, depending on the program and the
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length of the stay. Rehabilitation programs average about $10,000 to $20,000 a month. Insurance coverage varies; it generally covers detox and outpatient treatment, but not extended inpatient care. A number of drug rehabilitation centers in the US and Israel are under Orthodox auspices. Chabad Residential Treatment Center in Los Angeles, for example, has been treating members of the observant community for more than thirty years. It offers a kosher facility with daily Torah study and minyanim. Many of its staff members are Orthodox, providing for individual religious counseling and teaching. “Having clinicians with Torah knowledge is very important for the recovery of Jewish clients,” says Donna Miller, director. “Clients often think their prior traumas or challenges stem from their religion, so a clinician with Torah knowledge can help them separate the two.” Retorno Jewish International Rehabilitation Center in Israel offers daily minyanim, and even a kollel on site where men provide shiurim to the residents. “No one is forced to daven or learn, but it’s right here if they want it,” says Rabbi Eckstein. “We pray together, eat together and cry together.” Addiction professionals all agree, however, that before dealing with one’s spiritual condition, the first step is to get the individual off drugs. Asher Gottesman, CEO and founder of Transcend Recovery Community, a sober living outpatient program operating in Los Angeles and Manhattan, was once approached by an Orthodox woman whose daughter was an addict. “She asked me if a non-sectarian rehab on the West Coast was coed and if they serve kosher food. I looked at her and said, ‘Your grandchildren cannot put on tefillin if your children are dead.’ Her areas of concern are valid, but you have to be focused on where your daughter is at and help her stay alive.” Rabbi Wallerstein agrees that restoring the physical and emotional health of an addict must override all other concerns. However, most rehabs, he says, do not have the ability to “deal with the neshamah of a Jew.” “That’s a void that they can’t fix,” he says. In response to this vacuum, Rabbi Wallerstein anticipates opening up two 24 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
inpatient drug rehab centers, one for adolescent girls and one for young women in their twenties, in Sullivan County, New York.
“Everyone talks about the risks of using drugs and that it’s due to [ignorance] about substances. They miss the fact that kids are on drugs because they are uncomfortable in their own skin; they’re not getting what they need.” Even after rehab, addicts need to remain vigilant. “There are triggers all over the place,” says Ezy Finkel, a former addict who works as a consultant for drug treatment centers across the country. “An addict has to accept his situation and be willing to get help. Then he has to keep accepting to become re-willing every single day.” Once clean, one is still considered a “recovering” addict; clinicians stress the importance of regular attendance at twelve-step meetings. “Today, people are realizing that addiction is a disease,” says Michael Gondelman, founder and clinical director of Jerusalem Sober House, a sober living facility in Israel. “Every single community is affected by it. [But], I believe every addict has a chance for sobriety.” Why Are They In Pain? Getting clean is just half the recovery battle. On the other side of detoxing lurk the problems that drove addicts to self-medicate in the first place. “The most painful thing I ever did was walk through the doors of a treatment center,” admits Finkel. “Take the drugs away and I’m left with my feelings. Alcohol and drugs weren’t my problem, they were the solution.” Experts reveal that there are various factors that lead to addictive behavior, including failing to live up to parental expectations, as well as sexual, physical, verbal or emotional abuse. “All of my therapists will tell you that over fifty percent of their clients [suffer from sexual abuse of one form or another],” says Rabbi Young. Another factor is failing to fit in. Although the mainstream yeshivah struc-
Left: Prayer in the garden at the Chabad Residential Treatment Center in Los Angeles. Photo: Mushka Lightstone
Right: A central part of the treatment at Retorno Jewish International Rehabilitation Center is therapeutic horseback riding, which connects the rider not only to the horse but to himself and his emotions. Seen here, clients trotting through a nearby pond during an afternoon horseback riding activity. Courtesy of Rabbi Eitan Eckstein
ture works well for the majority of its students, for a significant number of addicts it was torture. They found the acceptance they craved in the streets. “Some of our children can’t find a connection within that system; they struggle in these institutions. It’s a reality,” says Rabbi Silver. “They need other [educational] programs in order to move them to the next level.” “If we are going to invest in yeshivot, the foundation of the community, we have to take care of those who have been abused, neglected or just don’t fit in,” says Rabbi Young, who is also a high school boys’ rebbe at Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, New York. “They should know that they can be loved and supported even if they don’t fit the cookie-cutter model that the yeshivah portrays. Show them we are going to help them find a place, so they [aren’t driven] to commit suicide, overdose or leave the community.” The common thread running through each addict’s story is the belief that he or she is “less than.” Drugs offer a quick and easy way out of pain, alienation and low self-esteem—no matter how fleeting and ultimately destructive. “Everyone talks about the risks of using drugs and that it’s due to [ignorance] about substances,” says Poznanski. “They miss the fact that kids are on drugs because they are uncomfortable in their own skin; they’re
maintain his or her normal life.” Whether a result of failing in yeshivah, abuse or bullying, the tragic victims of childhood trauma visit Rabbi Wallerstein’s office on a constant basis. “Drugs are an anesthesia for the pain,” he says. “You have to find out where that pain is coming from; if you fix that, then they don’t need the anesthesia anymore.”
not getting what they need.” Miller posits that children who experience “less-connected parental relationships,” often wind up associating with others like them who may be using sub-
stances to cope with their insecurities. “A young person who is relatively happy and goal oriented might be exposed to drug experimentation,” she says, “but there will be a strong draw to
Drug and alcohol recovery facilities under Orthodox auspices: Chabad Residential Treatment Center Los Angeles, California www.chabadrehab.com 323.965.1365 Torah and the Twelve Steps, Inc. Miami, Florida torahtwelvesteps.org 305.776.3794 Retorno Jewish International Rehabilitation Center Givat Shemesh, Israel www.retorno.org 718.285.9815 (US) 052.436.9888 (Israel) The SAFE Foundation Brooklyn, New York thesafefoundation.org 1.866.569.7233 Evolve Brooklyn, New York www.evolvejcp.com 646.799.2574
Sober houses under Orthodox auspices: Jewish Recovery Center Boca Raton, Florida www.jewishrecovery.com 561.450.5503 Arena Sober Living Monsey, New York arenasoberliving.wix.com/ arenasoberliving 845.535.9775 Jerusalem Sober House, Jerusalem, Israel jerusalemsoberhouse.com 845.400.1024 (US) 077.540.3715 (Israel) Chabad Sober Living Los Angeles, California www.chabadrehab.com 323.965.1365
Denial No More The good news is that the Orthodox community is becoming increasingly responsive to the drug plague. Aside from creating an endless array of programs for troubled teens, as well as resources for their parents, the community has also come to recognize what these kids need most: acceptance. Part of the success of the OU’s Pearl and Harold Jacobs Zula Outreach Center, a.k.a. “The Zula,” an all-night haven for troubled Israeli youth, is the unconditional love and warmth of its advisors and staff members. “The Zula team finds that the real work is done when advisors follow up with the kids,” says Rabbi Avi Berman, executive director, OU Israel. “That’s when the kids talk. They know the advisors understand where they are; many of them used to be there themselves.” An estimated 3,000 teens visit The Zula annually. Furthermore, there are signs indicating that some yeshivot are willing to provide both drug prevention and education programs. Yeshivah high schools in the New York metropolitan area have, for example, called upon Lewis “Lew” Abrams, addiction specialist for thirty-five years and former executive director of Yatzkan, a Jewish residential drug rehabilitation center in Amityville, New York, to speak to students and their parents about substance abuse prevention. (Opened in 2001,Yatzkan has since closed due to financial difficulties.) Abrams addresses topics such as learning refusal skills (effectively resisting peer pressure) and how to express concern to fellow students who are in trouble. Taking preventative measures, this past year Torah Umesorah/the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools implemented a “mashgiach training program” to provide effective intervention in day schools and yeshivot. The program runs Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 25
A Former Addict Speaks As told to Bayla Sheva Brenner
I was six years old when I was sexually molested. It took place in shul while I was in the youth group. My parents were upstairs davening and I wondered: why aren’t my parents doing anything about this? In yeshivah [elementary school], I was the kid getting into trouble every week. My parents then sent me to a mesivta; it was the worst thing for me. I didn’t want to be in that box, learning twelve hours a day. I didn’t need more rules. I needed more understanding. I always felt different from everyone else. At thirteen, I was introduced to alcohol. My yeshivah held tefillin parties, where parents and grandparents would bring a bottle of whiskey for l'chaims. I remember watching how they would become looser and more carefree. I thought, “I’m going to try this.” I went to the whiskey bottle and snuck a sip. I felt a warm feeling inside of me; the feelings of being inferior, of “poor me,” were gone. I felt like I could do anything. I was hooked. I started breaking into shuls looking for liquor left over from the Kiddush clubs. I used any and every opportunity to get a little alcohol. I was a small kid; I didn’t need much alcohol to get me there. I started smoking marijuana and then went into harder drugs. I began dealing drugs.
training sessions for school faculty members, familiarizing them with the dynamics of childhood anxiety disorders, trauma, ADHD and learning disabilities, as well as oppositional and other behavior disorders, all of which can be contributing factors towards the development of an addiction. The sessions are led by prominent Orthodox mental health professionals. “Graduates” of the program return to their schools with the goal of making a meaningful connection with every student. “They are like guidance counselors on steroids,” says Rabbi Dovid Morgenstern, director of the training program. “They are the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of the school, identifying problems and making themselves the address for students to come and talk about anything. So much unnecessary heartache, pain and regret are based in failing to detect and diagnose the
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My situation was brought to Rabbi Dov Silver at Madraigos. He told me I have two choices: either I go to rehab or everything will catch up with me and it will be a mess. I knew that if I took away the comfort of drugs and alcohol, everything I had been suppressing would come flooding back. [But] I saw that these people [at Madraigos] care about me. They love me. I made the leap. After two days at rehab, I ran away. I swore to myself I wasn’t going to get high, that all I needed was a day or two to be off the drugs and go back to living life. The next day, I woke up in my bed high. I had no idea how I got there or what had transpired the evening before—where I got drugs, where I got the money from. At that point I realized I really have a problem. I went back to rehab. When I finished rehab, I followed up with individual therapy. I started building a support network with people in recovery, went to AA and The Living Room in Brooklyn [a drop-in center for people in recovery]. I want to help others. I know the pain, the anger, the fear. We are talking about individuals who have been beaten down, whether by others or themselves. Many have huge resentments towards religion. A majority of them have experienced abuse in their lives, whether physical, sexual or otherwise. The most important thing I’ve learned is to never judge people; never assume someone is a lost cause. It’s important to really get to know the individual, get to know what’s going on inside of him. Only then will you be able to help him.
struggling child in yeshivah.” Retorno holds annual day-long drug prevention educational programs featuring lectures on the dangers of substance abuse. The programs attract religious and secular Israelis from all walks of life, including IDF soldiers, teachers, rabbis, doctors and parents. While the community may be coming out of denial about the drug epidemic, there is still much work ahead, say experts, if we are going to make a significant dent in addressing this problem. For one thing, parents need to become more knowledgeable about drugs. Yehuda Honickman, program developer at Jerusalem Sober House, advises parents to become familiar with telltale signs that their child needs help. “All of a sudden, their group of friends changes; from Yankel and Moshe they’re now hanging out with Jack and Joe. They want to sleep more; their personality starts to change;
they’re not as talkative.” Parents also need to develop an approach if, God forbid, one of their children starts to display at-risk behavior. Rabbi Young stresses that kids shouldn’t feel compelled to turn to the street. Parents must make it clear to them that they can count on the family to be a loving support system. Of course, that would require communication—putting the phones down and talking to each other face to face. “The overuse and misuse of technology is contributing to the breakdown in family communication,” says Miller. “There’s a strong need for family bonding, to focus on interpersonal communication and engage in meaningful discussions.” Miller cannot stress enough how important it is for children to get quality attention. Others agree. “If children don’t feel heard or seen,” says Gottesman, “they are going to make sure you hear and see them.” g
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hen I was growing up, the only children’s books available in a Jewish bookstore were a small selection of English-language Jewish-oriented morality tales. Books such as the sweet handwritten and spiral-bound Fishele and Fraydele series or the memorable Dov Dov series taught us much about listening to our parents, cleaning our rooms and always being ready on time for Shabbos. Readers of a certain age may also fondly remember a few classic Jewish children’s books, such as K’tonton, a delightful series (1930) that centered on the escapades of a thumb-sized boy; The All-of-a-Kind Family series (1951), which featured five sisters living on the Lower East Side at the turn of the century and The Carp in the Bathtub, a charming story (1987) that portrayed the thrill of Pesach preparations as seen through a child’s eyes. But while these works were wholesome, enjoyable and rich with Jewish themes, they were practically the only such books around. Well, we’ve certainly come a long way. The Orthodox children’s book market has exploded in recent years, with new
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publishers, authors and books appearing each year. According to book publicist and book shepherd Stuart Schnee, these days, more children’s titles are being released by Orthodox publishers than ever before. Today, Jewish bookstores across the country are packed with children’s books catering to every age, from toddlers to young adults, on every imaginable topic and genre including fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction and biographies. Visually, Jewish books are light years ahead of where they were a few decades back. Modern picture books with religious themes geared for toddlers and preschoolers are filled with bright, bold colors and eye-catching illustrations. Perhaps even more surprising is the wonderful array of graphic novels/comics catering to tweens and young teens. volution of an Industry Children’s book author Yaffa Ganz is a pioneer in the world of Jewish children’s books. The author of the Savta Simcha series (Feldheim, 1980) as well as the Mimmy and Simmy series (Feldheim, 1985) and more than forty-five other Jewish books, she famously started writing because there just wasn’t much for her children to read. “Once upon a time,”
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she recalls, “everything was done by hand. It was a long, laborious process so publishers were very fussy about what they printed.” Similarly, Goldie Golding, author of Arrogant Ari Learns A Lesson (Mesorah, 1988) and Eli and his Little White Lie (Mesorah, 1989) remembers that in the late 1980s, ArtScroll was thrilled to publish her stories because there were so few Jewish children’s books available at the time. “There was a handful of women writing [in the early 80s]—Sheindel Weinbach, Yaffa Ganz,” recalls Miriam Zakon, editor at Targum Press and author of numerous books including Gemarakup Super Sleuth, a mystery series for middle schoolers (Mesorah, 1990). “Okay, less than a handful!” When Zakon started writing back then, “Novels, young adult books, children’s illustrated books, self-help—these genres hardly existed.” Indeed, in the ensuing decades, Orthodox publishers began to recognize the need for high-quality, entertaining books that reflect Orthodox values— books that engage kids and, at the same time, reinforce the frum lifestyle by centering on themes such as the yamim tovim, the prayers and various mitzvot.
Yael Zoldan is a freelance writer and author of popular Jewish children’s books including We Can Do Mitzvos from Aleph to Tav (Feldheim, 2009), When I Daven (Feldheim 2011), We Can Do Mitzvos Around the Jewish Year (Feldheim, 2014) and Shimmy Shambone will NOT Take a Bath (Feldheim, 2014). Her newest book is Shimmy Shambone Will NOT Go to Bed. 28 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
ers spend more than eleven hours per day— rather than seeing a diminishment in Orthodox children’s book publishing, production is booming. Dovid Schulman, manager at Eichler’s Judaica in New York City, estimates that in just the past three years, the quantity of children’s books released has increased by 5 percent, and that figure is growing by the year. “Before Rosh HashaThe Adventures of K’tonton by author Sadie nah alone, we had fifRose Weilerstein. teen new children’s Courtesy of The Jean Sorkin Moldovan Collection, books come out. Can a collection of Yeshiva University Museum you imagine what we see over the course of an entire year?” Danny Levine, owner of J. “We were a new generation of native Levine Books & Judaica in Manhattan, estiEnglish speakers who had grown up on mates that some 100 new Jewish children's tisecular literature and Torah values, and tles appear each year. . . . we realized it was time for a synthehat Appeals to Kids sis of the two,” says Zakon. “It helped Devorah Leah Rosenfeld, publisher at that the mores and ethics and even the Hachai Publishing and author of Labels language of both children’s and adult litfor Laibel (Hachai, 1990) and A Chanuka Story erature were becoming more and more for Night Number Three (Hachai, 2009) sees at odds with Torah values.” advances in the overall state of Orthodox chilRemarkably, Jewish children’s pubdren’s books. She credits the improvements to lishing has managed to stay relevant in the community’s deeper understanding of child our high-tech, digital-obsessed world. psychology and development. Publishers, she Even with technology serving as a forsays, have a better understanding of what apmidable competitor for kids’ attention, peals to kids. frum book sales have not suffered. In “In the beginning, there was a gap between fact, while a 2010 Kaiser Family Founwhat teachers and mothers knew to be age-apdation study found that the average propriate for children, and what Jewish pubeight to ten year old spends nearly eight lishers were producing,” says Rosenfeld. “The hours a day with a variety of different first book dummy I submitted was questioned. The publisher wondered, ‘Who will pay for an media—and older children and teenag-
Top: Fishele’s Visit to the Cholov Yisroel Farm by author Faige Shain. Bottom: Fishele with his uncle in the train station on the way to the Cholov Yisroel Farm.
Illustrations courtesy of Yael Zoldan
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Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 29
entire page with so few words on it?”’ She notes that even books geared for older kids contain more sophisticated storylines and themes. “There are more problem novels for older readers, and more titles about difficult subjects for the picture book set. It’s a positive development, and these books are a springboard for important discussions.” Schnee agrees that the themes found in Orthodox kids’ books have expanded to include topics that were once considered taboo, including ADHD, special-needs siblings, avoiding abuse and bullying. In this sense, children’s books are a litmus test, reflecting what our community is thinking about and dealing with.
In fact, a quick scan of the shelves at a local Jewish bookstore reveals titles such as My Friend the Bully, Let’s Stay Safe (with information about appropriate and inappropriate touching) and Talking about Private Places. While it’s painful to think that some of these issues exist in our community, it’s a healthy sign that that they are being addressed.
books, the quality has not quite kept up. In discussions with frum children’s authors, a few have confessed to feeling frustrated with publishers who shy away from content that might be perceived as “controversial.” Thus, storylines in which kids do not exemplify sterling middot are often rejected. Such guidelines can be very restricting for authors, and can result in flat plots and one-dihat Doesn’t Appeal mensional characters. There is no such thing as a “chil“Publishing is a business and publishdren’s book,” contended famed ers have to produce books. Therefore writer J. R. R. Tolkien. He argued they try to sell books that are glatt methat books that capture children’s imagi- hadrin in order to garner the largest nation aren’t “children’s books”; they number of readers,” says Ganz. “But not are simply good books. With this stan- everyone defines glatt mehadrin in the dard in mind, do the books available in same way and it’s often difficult to make the Orthodox children’s market qualify everyone happy." as good books? “There are many lovely books out Some critics have noted that while in- there, but still not enough creative, creased production in Orthodox chilthought-provoking, fun books,” she adds. dren’s publishing has resulted in an “Most are ‘how-to’ books—how to be abundance of attractive, entertaining good Jewish boys or girls. They’re fine as educational books but they don’t necessarily speak to the imagination or invite creativity.” Golding, who in addition to being a children’s author is the director of the Preschool Department at Yeshivat Shaare Torah in Brooklyn, insists that “there can never be enough books that deal with social-emotional issues, making friends and other topics concerning bein adam l’chaveiro [interpersonal issues]. But the writing needs to be really good. Instead of telling kids what to do, parents can discuss [such issues] through a story and use that as a jumping point.” She notes that frum books PR IVATE PL ACES geared for preschoolers tend PR IVATE PL ACES to be overly didactic. Her advice for children’s authors: “Don’t hit kids over the head
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Talking About
Talking About
Development of “TALKING ABOUT PRIVATE PLACES” took place over a number of years during which some of the leading mental health professionals of our times, respected rabbonim and askonim generously shared their expertise and wisdom and graciously allowed Project Innocent Heart to turn their ideas into the wonderful book you now hold in your hands.
To reap the full benefits of “TALKING ABOUT PRIVATE PLACES,” look for a Project Innocent Heart Parent Seminar coming soon to your community and make sure to sign up. Our kids are worth at least that much. It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children about all aspects of safety. “Talking About Private Places” helps parents to address an aspect of personal safety that is critical in our generation and should be required reading for all children. The book’s clear, simple, and age-appropriate lessons will help to open lines of communication that, until now, have often been locked behind a wall of uncertainty and fear. I urge parents everywhere to study and internalize its lessons and then take the time to utilize this book as a beautiful opportunity to protect and to grow even closer to their children.
Bracha Goetz
“
PRIVATE PLACES
Project Innocent Heart is committed to significantly reducing the incidence of child victimization throughout our communities and has created comprehensive programs to generate awareness of the issue, heighten sensitivity to recognize signs of abuse and disseminate the knowledge necessary to make our communities safer. However, the single most effective element in reducing victimization among our precious children is talking to them about it in just the way it is presented in this book.
Talking About
This book was created to help even the most skittish parent engage in an honest, positive and upbeat discussion about the dignity and respect with which our bodies are to be treated. Each beautifully illustrated page is designed to provide a launching pad for a family discussion about the topic of child safety, even while adhering to the highest notions of tzniyus.
“
RABBI YAKKOV BENDER ROSH HAYESHIVA, YESHIVA DARCHEI TORAH
PRODUCED BY:
ISBN 978-1-59826-069-4 90000
9 781598 260694
30 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
PROJECT
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
By Bracha Goetz Illustrated by Shepsil Scheinberg
Listen to Yael Zoldan discuss the growth of literature for Orthodox Jewish children at https://www.ou.org/ life/arts-media/savitsky_ zoldan.
with the message. Let the children figure out by themselves what it means to be a good friend, how to problem solve. And use vocabulary that doesn’t talk down to them. They can [come across] a hard word once in a while!” Still others feel that the books are not diverse enough and do not represent the broad spectrum of Orthodox families. Chava Pinchuck, past chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards, says we need books with “illustrations that depict Sephardim, and men and women with less of a ‘Yeshivish’ look to them.” There are different ways to be an Orthodox Jew and many more of them should be shown in the books we give to children, she says. Schnee agrees. “If you look at older Yaffa Ganz classics, the characters are clearly Orthodox Jews but there are less visible signs of group belonging.”
IS ME LIGHT TH SPREAD SO
CHANUKAH
PEPSI SHARAEFEA LLOW JEW WITH
Remarkably, Jewish children’s publishing has managed to stay relevant in our hightech, digital-obsessed world. Creating compelling literature for the young adult crowd is another formidable challenge. “We need more intelligent young adult novels, on the level of books like The Giver or The Hunger Games,” says Zakon. “They don’t have to be edgy, but I’d like to see some with serious themes that take on young people’s views of life. My experience is that little kids are still reading the Jewish illustrated books, but as they get older they turn to secular literature.” Adolescent boys, in particular, are a neglected demographic, says Chaim Feder, manager of Z. Berman Books in Passaic, New Jersey. “There are plenty of [young adult books] written with girls in mind, but the boys are being left out.” The only books he has found to be directly targeting boys that age are comic-style books, outcroppings of the Jewish weekly magazines such as Mishpacha, Ami and Binah. ublisher’s Point Quality is, of course, what the consumer wants. But quality writing requires quality writers and unfortunately, Orthodox publishing is often not lucrative enough to channel into a fulltime career. “Writers just aren’t paid enough,” says Golding. “Very few can consider it a main source of income so they do it part time. Therefore, the talented writers don’t produce enough quality content for the market.” Another result of the lower pay scale is that most authors writing for the Orthodox children’s market don’t go for specialized training, as they are unlikely to make their money back from the limited royalties. Sometimes these “amateur authors” produce quality work and sometimes the lack of training is evident. As an example, while many frum children’s books
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Ok, here’s the pitch. It’s 2040 and the NY Yankees — not to mention Yankee fans everywhere, are counting on 18 year old phenom Pepsi Meyers to get them into the post- season for the first time in a long time. What they didn’t count on was Pepsi refusing to play in those games because he doesn't want to play games with his newly discovered faith. Inspired by the 50th Anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s historic decision to sit out a World Series game scheduled for Yom Kippur, The Season of Pepsi Meyers is the kind of instant classic that is both timely and timeless. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Music fans know Abie Rotenberg as the founder/composer/songwriter behind the iconic D’veykus & Journeys albums — collections of stirring melodies and lyrics that have been connecting with audiences worldwide for almost half a century. What they don't know is that inside this intense yet soft-spoken comde poser, lives a die-hard baseball fan and devoted student of the game. With The Season of Pepsi Meyers, this well-known performer & storyteller adds a new chapter to his prolific and legendary career.
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 31
THE AWESOME ADVEN-
TURES OF PICKLE BOY
By Jack Bee By Jack Bee May 2013 2013 May 242 242 pages pages
Reviewed by Yael Zoldan
he Awesome Adventures of Pickle Boy is a rousing action adventure plucked straight out of the hyper-fueled fantasy world of middle school boys. Danny Green is an average elevenyear-old boy living with his average family in New York City when, quite by accident, he discovers a hidden cache of pickle juice in his basement and drinks it. Danny is immediately transformed into an action hero with supernatural abilities and a desire to right the wrongs he sees in the world. But Danny is still just a kid and he’s up against some serious villains. The Mafia, street gangs and Al-Qaeda terrorists are just a few of the bad guys Danny faces as he tries to navigate the very real perils of a dangerous world. Pickle Boy is not an overtly Jewish book—aside from the character’s implied ethnicity, there is no actual Jewish content—but it is an old-fashioned adventure, the kind we don’t often see in the secular market. The characters are pre-teen boys who are not grappling with any of the dating and relationship issues that are so prevalent in today’s young adult literature. In this sense, the book is a kosher alternative for tweens. There is, however, quite a bit of violence— knifings, shootings and nuclear bombs, to name just a few—and parents will need to judge whether this would be frighten-
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ing or exhilarating for their own children. With the book market for preteens flooded with “relationship” books, including many offerings that normalize same-sex relationships among teenagers, finding a book that is primarily plot-driven can be a real relief for parents struggling to find suitable literature. As an aside, I wish there were some more “showing” and a little less “telling” in this very imaginative book. We could stand to learn more about Danny from his actions rather than by descriptive narrative. Still, Pickle Boy is a fun and exciting read and the cliffhanger will certainly leave kids clamoring for more. Yael Zoldan is a freelance writer and author of Jewish children's books.
BINA LOBELL’S SUPER SECRET DIARY By Ruchama Feuerman Judaica Press New York, 2014 176 pages
Reviewed by Leah Milstein
ina Lobell’s Super Secret Diary is a charming book, written by well-known author Ruchama Feuerman, from the perspective of a nine-year-old girl, Bina Lobell. The diary format gives readers a firsthand look into the thoughts and feeling of this inquisitive and insightful young girl. Furthermore, the creative book design—complete with a magnetic closure to resemble a diary, lined pages, purple text and occasional drawings—will delight young readers. Although written from a child’s perspective, with juvenile grammar
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and language (Montessori is spelled as “Monty Sorry”), the reader is exposed to the very real everyday situations and challenges that children commonly face, including a dysfunctional friendship, sibling rivalry, social insecurities and food allergies. Children will relate to Bina’s efforts to understand what Hashem wants of her, and to her guilt when she slips in losing her temper. Her amusing observations of her classmates, her teacher’s wardrobe and bumpy ponytails will elicit smiles. The main plot of the story, which is unfortunately all too familiar for many, revolves around Bina’s friendships, or lack thereof. As a student in a Montessori school of only five children, she feels limited in her social options. Her best friend takes advantage of her, and as an observer to Bina’s story, we can see how she is being bullied. One can’t help but empathize with her as she contemplates starting a friend gemach and pours out her heart to Hashem to give her a friend. As a mother of children with food allergies, I appreciated the way Feuerman weaved in Bina’s peanut allergy and anaphylactic reaction, raising awareness of allergies while not being preachy. Bina’s feelings of insecurity and thoughts about dealing with her allergy will help children understand what their classmates with food allergies may be experiencing. We Jewish mothers are constantly seeking quality reading material for our children that will expose them to new experiences, but not compromise our values. Bina Lobell’s Super Secret Diary is a kosher novel with Orthodox values. As a thoughtful gesture, there is a glossary of Hebrew words used in the book for those who may be unfamiliar with some of the terms. While the writing is deliberately juvenile, and I would recommend this book for the eight to ten-year-old age group, my twelve-year-old daughter thoroughly enjoyed it and reported it to be a popular book in her sixth grade class. We hope to see more children’s and tween books by this author! Leah Milstein is a project manager for a software company who enjoys reading and writing. Leah lives in Brooklyn and is a mother of six children, most of whom love books.
are written in rhyme, very few can be considered poetry. Nevertheless, Ganz, who recently published Wheat, Wine and Honey, her first book of poetry, believes frum authors owe it to their readers to produce quality work despite the poor compensation. “Do your homework!” says Ganz, “Don’t just write nonsense! And finish your work professionally. There’s beauty in language even for children, so use language to the fullest.” “If you’re choosing this industry, you’ve got to love it,” she says. Sure the secular market offers more money and prestige but, says Ganz, “God gave you a talent, why not invest it in your own family? Plant it in your own garden, for your own people.” However, the economics of book publishing is a legitimate concern. The magazine trend, says Pinchuck, may affect book sales as people forgo the expense of buying books and choose to subscribe to relatively cheaper magazines instead. Schnee sees the industry facing a difficult reality of “very low margins, weekly media that is cheaper to buy than books and consumers who push for the lowest prices more than ever.” The bottom line, says Schnee: “It costs a lot to put out quality books.”
“It would be a tragic loss if Jewish publishing were to unravel due to the financial pressures of an increasingly tough economic reality.” Additionally, quality may be compromised as publishers rush to flood the markets. Schnee points out that more and more titles are being released each year, which cuts into the sales that the publisher can expect from any one title. Add to that the flourishing of Jewish magazines and newspapers, and public libraries which carry Jewish books, the result is that many Orthodox publishers are struggling. “I think at least some publishers are questioning whether they are releasing too many books. It cannibalizes the market.” He’d like to see this addressed through a community-funded organization set up to subsidize publishers, assist authors and train editors. “It would be a tragic loss if Jewish publishing were to unravel due to the financial pressures of an increasingly tough economic reality.” Given the very real financial difficulties facing authors and publishers, what is the future of the frum children’s book market? Will it continue to thrive? Absolutely, says Schnee, “The demise of the book has been predicted over and over for about twenty years now. Jewish books aren’t going to disappear. Jews are literally the People of the Book.” As we light our menorahs this year, even in this age of Kindle, Jewish children everywhere will be snuggling up with a new book. And that’s exactly the way it should be.
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Cover Story
5745 1985 First issue of Jewish Action, Fall 1985
RATIN BR LE ATING B E E L C E G C
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1986 We Mourn the Loss of Our Great Leaders (Rav Moshe Feinstein; Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky)
1987: A Behind the Scenes Look at Freeing Soviet Jews 34 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
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1992 Ethiopian Jewry: The Challenge Ahead
1993-94: Beyond the Veil—Women and Torah Study
5776 1993
1994-95
Homosexual Rights and Wrongs: Should We Favor or Oppose Legislation?
A Soldier’s Dilemma: What Does Jewish Law Say about Evicting Jewish Settlers?
1993: Tribute issue Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik: His Life and Legacy
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hat were American Jews thinking in the eighties? The nineties? In 2000? In 2010? There is perhaps no better way to get a sense of the pressing needs and concerns of American Orthodox Jewry during the past three decades than by flipping through old issues of Jewish Action. Working on the thirtieth anniversary issue was a true thrill; plowing through our archives, we saw the world evolve from the fading Cold War to the war on terror, from AIDS to Ebola, from Dial-a-Daf to E-Daf. The Soviet Jewry movement; the Ethiopian aliyah, 9/11, the Disengagement—Jewish Action saw it all, consistently providing intelligent analysis on the ever-changing Jewish world. And yet, some issues refuse to die. We covered anti-Semitism in the 1992, then again in 2004, in 2009 and in 2015. The fact that we focused on working mothers and the work-life balance in 1993, in 1997 and again in 2012 indicates how very real the struggle is for many Orthodox families. Kiruv, aliyah, addictions, Jewish education, technology, Torah and science . . . these themes continue to occupy our attention. Born in the fall of 1985, the brainchild of visionaries Joel Schreiber and Rabbi Matis Greenblatt, Jewish Action has distinguished itself by offering honest and thoughtful analysis of issues of importance to the Orthodox community. Over the years, the magazine has featured some of the most prestigious thinkers and writers in the Orthodox world, and has profiled many of the most significant leaders of Orthodoxy in our generation. We invite you to read some of our most memorable articles which we have reprinted in this thirtieth anniversary issue. (To see hundreds of articles that have appeared in our pages, visit www.ou.org/jewish_action.) Selecting the articles was a painstaking process, requiring weeks of combing through our extensive archives. We read and discussed, assessed and re-assessed. Ultimately, we settled on those articles we thought best convey what our magazine is about and what we have striven to achieve over the years. What can we learn from thirty years of insightful and penetrating commentary on American Orthodox life? We leave that answer up to you. WINTER 5775/2014
THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION
1995
1998
The New Messianism: Passing Phenomenon or Turning Point in the History of Judaism? Landmark article by Dr. David Berger on messianism within the Chabad movement
2005: The Tuition Squeeze
Torah Codes: the Crucial Debate
2011 Torah in the Digital Age
2011: 9/11— The Tenth Yahrtzeit: Personal stories of those who were there
VOLUME 75, NO. 2 • $5.50
2014
2015
The Rise of Neo-Chassidus
When Leaders Fail: Healing from Rabbinic Scandal
2012: Striking a Balance: Work and Family
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 35
How can I write about emunah? I do not feel competent to deal with so great and deep a subject.
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ow can I write about emunah? I do not feel competent to deal with so great and deep a subject. I only know that our people have been rooted in emunah like a sturdy, weatherbeaten tree that is firmly rooted in solid ground, constantly shooting out plants alive with growth. But I have been asked to draw upon “any personal events which challenged . . . faith or played a crucial part in solidifying it.” This touches a cord. Where have I experienced emunah? My mind travels back many years. Pictures of long ago stir and come to life. I am a sixteenyear-old girl. Life is peaceful and unharassed in those days at the beginning of the century. I love sunshine, the beauty of summergreen and the reflection of idealistic romance. And then something happens. My brother, age eighteen, has
caught the flu which is sweeping Germany. My parents, by his bedside, storm the heavens with their prayers and supplications. To no avail. He is laid to rest on erev Shabbos, a beloved son, a pure soul, a part of the strong fabric of our solid family unit and my first encounter with death. The world had suddenly become dark for me as never before and my mother’s tears burnt wounds into my hitherto idealistic, cloudless existence. And then— but a few hours later, we all came to the Shabbos table. The silver was shining, the challos were presiding, zemiros were sung, light filled the room, the golden soup was shared—the Shabbos Queen had shed her radiance unaltered. We filed into togetherness and the pain, which should have reached its peak, was prevented from rising to the top. Shabbos had triumphed, had smoothed us into harmony and had dipped our hearts into the radiance that flooded the room. This happened over seventy years ago and while I write this down, having since gone through a number of tribulations—including the terror of the world’s
Dr. Judith Grunfeld was an associate of Sarah Schenirer in the founding of the first Beth Jacob Seminary. She was later headmistress of the famed Jewish Secondary School of London. When some 500 foreign refugee children were evacuated from London to the countryside during World War II, she directed the reconstituted Jewish school in Shefford. She passed away in 1998. This article first appeared in the fall 1992 issue. 36 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
worst human catastrophic time—I feel the tears still rising . . . in reverence of this long past experience that my parents in their emunah had given me. Something of this experience has never left me, it forged my inner triumphant strength that stood by me all along through many a difficult period of life. So how is emunah defined? Is it in the quiver of the heart when grappling with the infinite or is it in the glitter of the tears that well up when we humbly accept our unfathomable destiny? In our mundane, everyday life, we sometimes encounter moments of elation and mental inspiration. We then reach beyond the banality of our routine and feel confronted with a super individual vision far beyond our temporal experience. I remember such moments (which appear as ordinary happenings when I try to recall or retell them) and their impact was so strong that something of it accompanied me through life. Why should I now, after the passage of sixty years, so vividly and clearly remember sitting on the green grass of the Carpathian Mountains next to a woman twice my age, whom I have only just met after coming from Frankfurt to Poland? While listening to her plans for women’s education, I feel overcome and lifted up to a height of vision—a vision which has not lost its magic momentum even today, so many decades later. This woman was the then unknown Sarah Schenirer, and while she spoke to me, initiating me into her plans,
the radiance of her presence was strongly communicating itself to me. I became a part of the magic web that embraced her and wider spheres beyond her. From that moment onwards, I handed myself over to the task of weaving the net of education spread out before me, and I have seen it spread out into a world-embracing and widely acknowledged blessed movement. The sensation of this experience, so sudden, so far reaching and so sincerely presented has never left me. I have lived and relived this encounter countless times, and every time it touches me anew in its incredible power of sincerity. The basis of it all—emunah, strong, unshakable and solid. It seems that the seedlings of emunah are not just private sensations, not just personal gifts. They are slumbering in us and may remain unrecognized and unknown until they are touched by the kiss of an event or an encounter with fate. Words from a pure source may serve as a magic key to unlock those sensations. Inbuilt genetic disposition may also contribute, as a gift of grace. We may not be the beginners of emunah in our hearts—it may have been passed on to us from beyond time and some may be more richly endowed with it than others. Can we define emunah? Can we define a colour? We can only point at it and say “this rose is red.” This is something that is positive to the eye, it is refreshing, it is attractive, it is loud—but it will never be possible to define any colour. To a blind man there is no way of presenting it—there is no bridge of understanding to one bereft of sight. What is emunah? Emunah is when you are told to jump into the roaring sea, and that “it will be safe.” When all hesitated, Nachshon Ben Aminadav did the jump. He went down
in history with this fearless jump where reason based on experience had abdicated. It was a jump of emunah—reality was overrun. With emunah, we become sure that the unbelievable will happen and has happened in the past. One feels Divine guidance, the hand behind the mechanics of life. Emunah will sprout in elite moments, may they be moments of joy or of helpless devastation. It has its bright chances when marriage under the sky is seen as enchanted immortalization of life itself. When two people are blended into a unit under the canopy, then continuation is handed over to the yet unborn. In the seven marriage blessings we have the visionary ecstasy of joining Gan Eden through the new couple, directly with the days of Mashiach. Thus emunah makes life transparent. Emunah is potentially an ex-
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Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 37
tension of the mundane life. Mundane life contains treasures of holiness which come out at sparking times and develop into a tapestry which, when woven tightly enough, gives us purpose of life, strength without strain, harmony beyond our planning and elevation without conscious effort. When a mother gives birth, she is not just a woman giving birth to a child, she is a descendant sliding gradually into ancestry. She is leading into further flowering, which in turn will bring the song and music of life, pointing far beyond the temporal moment. Deep down, the essence of it all is emunah. Emunah lifts us up, makes us ignore the stumbling block in our way, the thorns that rend our garments and our skin. It directs our glance towards a height we shall never really reach. It hurts and soothes at the same time. It must have been in Gittel (and in so many like her), the staunch Beth Jacob girl in the Kracow Ghetto, when she gathered her children around her, took them by the hand and said to them: “Do not be afraid my kinderlach, we go now together to Hashem.” And with confident step, her children by her side, she walked directly
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towards the commanding SS officer of the extermination squad. They were in the next group felled to the ground and no one ever saw the wings of bitachon on which Gittel had floated. I have been told this account by a surviving eyewitness: how Gittel and her children walked towards their end. Gittel had been my student sixty years ago in Sarah Schenirer’s first Beth Jacob Seminary in Kracow. What is it that grips me now, some fifty years later, when I recount it, that I feel so totally humble, hinged to a sublime existence? There is not much time for the ordinary person for holiness. We have to deal with so many mundane things, routine takes most of the time. But suddenly we feel there are moments that give their sparks and when I come face to face with those sparks, my feelings are all aglow. I am ready for the encounter and while I am aware of this readiness, all bent to hold on to it . . . it escapes me and I am a creature earthbound, fumbling for the security of earth. “My beloved eludes me” (Shir Hashirim 5:6). Is
there a trace of emunah anywhere to be found? Maybe our sparks of emunah experience are linked to each other, one here, one there, one of the Ne’ilah hour, one of an encounter with hope or with disaster, and together they all form a mighty power, breaking in full force of ecstasy like lava breaks out of a mountain and floods all around . . . . How dare I analyze emunah, I can barely tentatively touch the surface, perhaps not even this. Yaakov Avinu saw a ladder standing on earth, its top reaching to heaven. Our Jewish home is founded on emunah and it is the place on which the world hinges. The distance from the profane to the sacred is so small. It is incalculable. Our house was shaken to the ground, but it has proved its strength. The hinges never broke. It needed the raging hurricane to make us aware of its indestructibility and with it, the indestructibility of our people. Perhaps emunah are the rungs that lead from the earth to heaven. g
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S
ometime in the latter part of the 19th century, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav and great-grandfather of the Rav, showed samples of his son Chaim’s “Torah” (original interpretations) to Reb Yisrael Salanter. Reb Yisrael commented that in the future, this type of Torah would save the Torah world from the inroads of the Haskalah. The 19th century was a time when the truth and eternity of Torah were being undermined and challenged from many directions. Not the least challenge came from the scientific and technological revolution, and in the words of Matthew Arnold: “The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full . . . But now I only hear its melancholy, long withdrawing roar . . . .” To some within the Jewish world, the glorious tradition of Torah learning seemed to lose its luster as compared to the precision and supposed certainties of science and the scientific method. Reb Chaim Soloveit-
chik’s penetrating mind demonstrated that, in fact, undergirding the mass of Talmudic law was a profound, conceptual foundation. He showed that halachic thought is “no less intellectually creative, brilliantly analytical, subtly abstract . . . than the most abstract and exact sciences. On the contrary it exceeds them” (U’vikashtem Misham, p. 49). His new method gained respect for Torah and attracted some of the best young minds to Torah learning. The Rav imbibed his grandfather’s method from early youth and developed that method to new heights of creativity. But the Rav did something else that Reb Chaim did not do, and perhaps was not necessary for his generation: The Rav confronted the predicament of modern man. His mastery of many areas of knowledge is not as important as the fact that he learned and experienced what it meant to live in the contemporary world.
It is frequently assumed that his awareness and knowledge of modernity reflected his approval or legitimation. In fact, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has shown, he actually recoiled from many of the values of Western life and civilization. But for those involved in contemporary life, he was a mentor and a guide. Many young men who might have been lost to the Conservative movement remained within Orthodoxy because of his example. How could one call Orthodoxy “old-fashioned” when this thoroughly modern giant was Orthodox and much more intelligent and knowledgeable than they in almost any field? Furthermore, contradictions and conflicts did not affect his unshakable faith and yirat Shamayim. The fact that he spent his time immersed in Talmudic studies not as an academic exercise, but as living and dynamic truth, reflected his profound faith in the Divine source of the Oral Law. This faith was communicated to his thou-
Rabbi Matis Greenblatt is literary editor emeritus of Jewish Action. He lives in Jerusalem. This article first appeared in the summer 1993 issue, published shortly after the Rav’s death. 40 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
sands of disciples who, in turn, established fresh links in the chain of masorah. And his internalized, instinctual yirat Shamayim is touchingly illustrated in the story of his bursting into tears upon realizing that he had accidentally switched on a light on Shabbat. The Rav’s deep faith in the truth of Torah did not impede his search for and appreciation of general truth, and as a disciple of the Rambam he welcomed knowledge from whatever the source. He never feared truth even if he had unanswered questions. His anxieties and existential tensions arose from conflicts between the goals and values of society at large as opposed to the goals and values of Torah, not from perceived threats to his faith. In his search for truth, he was unsparing of himself, as well as of others, and his approach was one of complete intellectual openness: The Rav was scheduled to give two consecutive shiurim. During the first shiur a young man offered an interpretation that did not please the Rav. He proceeded to upbraid the student for his lack of understanding. After the shiur, the second class entered the room, but the Rav remained silent, obviously deep in thought. The class was puzzled. Suddenly, he arose and hurried out of the room with the entire class close behind. He strode out of the building and entered a luncheonette where the young man was eating. The young man looked appalled, and cringed as the Rav drew near, pointing his finger at him. But instead of additional rebuke, the Rav
called out to him, “You were right and I was wrong! Tomorrow morning, I will explain!” His thought was fresh and dynamic. A student once pointed out that he had contradicted something he himself had said earlier. He replied, “So what, I am not a Mishnah or a Tana.”
his approach was one of complete intellectual openness He saw his role as teacher of all segments of the community, not only of advanced yeshivah students. His Saturday night Chumash classes and Sunday morning Talmud classes in Brookline were legendary, as were his heavily attended weekly Talmud shiurim in Congregation Moriya in New York. Dr. Yitzchak Twersky has pointed out that in view of the Rav’s awesome knowledge, his teaching frequently required a major effort of tzimtzum, or contraction, in order to make it appropriate for his particular audience. The Rav wrote that “prayer is the continuation of prophecy . . . the difference . . . is . . . while within the prophetic community God takes the initiative—He speaks and man listens—in . . . prayer the initiative belongs to man: he does the speaking and God the listening” (The Lonely Man of Faith, p. 57). One may ask what vehicle served to replace prophecy’s role as communicator of the Divine voice to man? The Ramban teaches us that after the period of prophecy, the prophetic spirit lived
on in the chachamim (scholars) “who know the truth through the Divine spirit within them” (Ramban to Baba Batra 12a). The Rav’s life reflected his belief that God spoke to man through his immersion in Torah. Torah is an interactive, creative process between God and man. The Rogotchaver Gaon, Rabbi Yosef Rosen, once said that when he prayed, he spoke to God; but when he learned, God spoke to him. In the last analysis, our main contact with Divinity is via the Divine word expressed through Torah. Halachic man’s preoccupation with theoretical halachah in contrast to practical halachah reflects his longing for transcendence. According to the Zohar (3:80), our faith is derived from contact and immersion in Torah. And through Torah, covenantal man spans the generations; he finds redemption from his insecurity and transcends narrow historicist theories by living in the historical continuum of the masorah community (op. cit., p. 72). The Rav passed through earth like a meteor, leaving us a radiant body of thought and life constituting a mighty demonstration of his faith in Orthodox Judaism and in the Divinity of Torah. His unquestionable greatness touched and elevated the lives of his thousands of students, as well as all those who were fortunate enough to have known him. But perhaps most of all, he was an indispensable link in the preservation of Torah in an era of unprecedented challenges. g
The Rav in 1969.
Courtesy of Yeshiva University Archives Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 41
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n anecdote resonates in my mind: Raphael Waldman, who had been a journalist at the Baltimore Sun before accepting Torah observance, described an early experience as a guest at an Orthodox home. He had been asked by his hosts, in the breathless and conspiratorial tones reserved for such forays, to describe the existential conditions of life outside the Pale. “I gave them what they wanted,” he concluded. “I told them that there was nothing out there!” This small conceit of the insular crowd, the idea that outside of our little circle the world is a de-ideologized zone of corruption and permissiveness, generally seems a harmless enough foible. Its impact on the kiruv system has revealed a far more pernicious aspect. The process of correcting our behavior, as practiced by us daily, is aptly called “teshuvah,” the Hebrew for “return.” Clearly, the place of goodness that we seek is one that we have known, even if only for fleeting instants in our lives. It is the space that we occupy when we are at our best, where our education and our identification mesh, where ideology embraces reality, where good will meets good deed. It is somewhere that we have been before and, more meaningfully, it is where we feel most natural. Yet, we would deny to the new initiate that luxury. We too often insist on belit-
tling, even negating, all the attainments which have characterized the earlier periods of their lives. The family life is hollow; the education shallow; the society degenerate; the relationships unhealthy; the character unformed; the views uninformed. Our new friends cannot “return” to that place in the soul unless we grant them access. It is the view of my more sensitive colleagues that by this self-indulgent way of drumming home our exclusive custody of the moral high ground, we inflict undeserved damage upon our charges. If we pat ourselves on the back long enough, we eventually become spineless. The people of the Western world, and more so the Jews among them, are fundamentally decent people, inculcated with most of the virtues of good character. Our job is to point out to our students those qualities which are best in their basic orientation and to build upon those foundations with the prescriptions, the wisdom and the values of the Torah serving as the enriching context. When this is not done, a portion of our clientele gets lost, unable to face the stark test of self-negation we are imposing. Another portion stumbles over the line into commitment, but then sinks into a profound abyss. If he cannot take pride in his education and his career, if his family is only the instrument of betrayal that de-
nied him his birthright, if his hobbies and interest were empty pastimes, if his friends were pulling him down, if his loves were illusions and his ideas were propaganda and his instincts were subverted by a decadent society, then he has nothing that is worthwhile; he is bankrupt. His head cannot be respected and his heart cannot be trusted, his ego cannot be consulted nor can his conscience be heeded. In an essay written some years ago, I gave a name to this phenomenon. It is called LEST, Lost Ego Syndrome of Transition. Consigning people to such a limbo, even for a brief period, can have catastrophic effects on their personalities and states of mental health. Unfortunately, I have witnessed variations on this theme all too often. Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner (1906-1979), my great teacher, was still alive during the initial stages of the teshuvah movement. Laibel Kruger, who served as his personal valet at that time, reported that Rav Hutner, when introduced to those early students would ask, “Are you keeping up with your career? Are you keeping up with your hobbies? Are you keeping up with your family?” That wisdom is no less timely now. We are not inviting people to go from bad to good; rather, to give their goodness a rootedness, a system, a permanence—to go from good to better. g
Yaakov D. Homnick is the author of many books and articles on Jewish subjects in Hebrew and English. This article first appeared in the fall 1994 issue. 42 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
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H
e definitely gets around a lot. You can find investor/entrepreneur Marc Belzberg, in his large kippah and sandy-colored beard, hosting 300 people at a Haifa hotel. They are all men, women and children whose families have been struck by terror, and Belzberg and his Belgian-born wife, Chantal, are there as the founders of the OneFamily Fund, a fund that provides help to these suffering families. On another day you’ll find him working behind the scenes with major Israeli politicians or with the movers and shakers behind them. Or you’ll find him with a couple of brilliant young post-army guys, as he advises an Israeli start-up. None of this has caused Belzberg to forget his family priorities. This interview was squeezed in between eating Friday morning breakfast with his wife and picking up one of his six kids from a Jerusalem preschool. Could any of this have been predicted by those who tried to tame a wild Canadian teenager thirty years ago? Born in 1954 in Edmonton, Alberta, home at that time to a Jewish community of only 5,000, Belzberg
was one of four children whose strongly Zionist, well-to-do parents belonged to the Conservative and Orthodox synagogues. They actually attended synagogue only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but, he says, “They worked on behalf of the UJA, the Federation and Israel. My grandparents came over from Poland in the early 1900s. My grandmother kept kosher but my grandfather went to work on Shabbat. My parents were raised with very little Jewish education.” Belzberg attended a secular Jewish day school—“very Israeli and non-religious” —through the sixth grade and then moved to another non-Orthodox afternoon school for two evenings a week “until I got kicked out for fooling around,” he says. “I even got the strap a couple of times.” His first move into Jewish “activism”—in a manner of speaking— came when the Belzbergs moved to Vancouver as Marc was about to enter high school. He spent grade nine as the social director of USY, organizing parties. For grade ten, he says, “My parents decided to send me to Rocky Mountain Board-
ing School, a rough and tough school for boys in Alberta,” thinking perhaps that would straighten him out. But he had other plans. Belzberg had heard about a youth village in Israel called Hadassim. It was far away from the scrutiny of his parents or Survivor-mentality educators. Together with some friends from Edmonton and Calgary, he joined a group of twenty-five kids across Canada who were going there for their sophomore year. The other students in Hadassim were a far cry from the Canadian bunch. “They were mostly Russians or kids from broken homes,” he recalls. “That was a crazy year. The principal was an older man, German and not religious. They taught us nothing about Shabbat. We used to hitchhike to the beach in Netanya on Shabbat. We were a wild bunch. One girl got pregnant. One guy tried to commit suicide. The principal sent all of us to group therapy once a week. “By the end of the year they were happy to see us go home. They thought we [the Canadians] were ruining the Israelis.” On Christmas Eve in Hadassim, the Canadian
Toby Klein Greenwald, a regular contributor to Jewish Action, is a journalist, playwright, poet and teacher. She is the artistic director of Raise Your Spirits Theatre. This article is part of a cover story Jewish Action ran in spring 2002 entitled “NCSY: Leaders Then and Now,” which profiled a number of NCSY leaders who went on to serve as leaders in the broader Jewish community. 44 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
So he found himself, in a bizarre reversal of the norm, eating kosher outside and treif at home. At the end of eleventh grade he went to Israel with fifty other Vancouver kids on a Yeshiva University-organized trip with Rabbi Hier. “On my last day in Israel, I bought one milchig bowl, one fleishig bowl, and a fork for each, and came home with the intention of really keeping kosher.” He got through twelfth grade on cereal. Then two of his sisters became religious. It was now three kids against the two parents, and the parents finally capitulated. “We had our own food at the table and our dishes in a section of the kitchen.” Belzberg recalls one of his fondest memories of NCSY. “We heard that the Russian Premier Kosygin was coming to town. One of the kids who worked in a car wash borrowed 100 chains and gave them out to us. We wore them like belts and went down to the beautiful hotel in Vancouver where a state dinner was being held for Kosygin on a Saturday night. We dispersed ourselves throughout the lobby and by the storefronts and nobody noticed anything unusual. “A few of us passed out menus to the dinner guests, itemizing the dinner of a Russian Jewish prisoner. All the ‘tuxes’ who were walking back and forth saw it and you can imagine it was quite different than the eight-course meal they were being served. Then, at exactly nine pm, one kid blew a shofar and we all formed a large circle in the middle of the lobby and raised the chains above our
Welcome to
teenagers got homesick. “There were no songs, no snow, no Macy’s windows. So we put a Christmas tree in my room and we went out on the lawn and sang Christmas carols.” While Belzberg and his friends were wreaking havoc in Hadassim, a young rabbi had come to Vancouver. Rabbi Marvin Hier had brought Baltimore-born Rabbi Pinchas (“Pinky”) Bak out west to be the principal of the day school after the non-Jewish principal left. He succeeded in changing the nature of the school and its curricula; perhaps even more important, he started a local NCSY chapter. While Belzberg’s friends went straight home after their year in Israel, he spent a month in Europe with his parents. “I came back to Vancouver in August. On Saturday, I called my old friends who had led a crazy life with me in Israel that year but their mothers—one after the other—answered the phone and said my friends wouldn’t talk on the phone on ‘Shabbat.’ I didn’t know what was happening. I had never even heard of such a thing! “Then they told me about Pinky Bak. I resisted for a couple of weeks. They said he was running a minyan every morning for high school kids. Finally I decided to go along. One of my friends had to come over the night before to teach me how to put on the tefillin I had received for my bar mitzvah, but had never worn. “The minyan was fantastic. It was lively, there was singing . . . . I went back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and on Shabbat told my mother that I wanted to go to the Orthodox shul. She drove me there. When the services were over and I was about to leave, one of my friends came to get me and said, ‘Come to Pinky Bak’s house for Shabbat lunch.’ But I wasn’t ready for that yet and started home. “I was two long blocks away already when Pinky came running up to me, panting. ‘Come for lunch,’ he said, and he was a guy you couldn’t say ‘No’ to. I ended up staying there the whole day—lunch, back to shul for Minchah, back to his place for seudah shlishit, back to shul for Ma’ariv, back to Pinky’s for Havdalah. “I came home that night and announced to my parents, ‘I’m becoming religious.’” Belzberg became active in NCSY. “I became the ‘social director’ again, but unlike USY, this time it meant social action, and the parties we planned looked different than they did before.” He eventually became chapter president and social action director of the entire region. At the end of the twelfth grade he was named NCSY “Kid of the Year”; under his term as president their chapter was “Chapter of the Year.” More and more teens in Vancouver were becoming religious. Belzberg relates, “Previously, the only religious guy had been the son of the chazzan of the Conservative synagogue. He kept kosher and he was chapter president of USY. Once we got into religion, however, he became the class ‘goy.’ Today he is my attorney and lives in Israel.” How did Belzberg’s parents react to his becoming religious? “They went nuts. They said, ‘It’s a phase. It will pass.’ “The first thing my father said was, ‘Okay, then you can give me the keys to the car. You won’t need it. People back in those days only used camels.’ They also said no to the idea of my keeping kosher, insisting, ‘When in our house, you’ll do as we do.’”
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heads. Pinky made Havdalah and we sang Am Yisrael Chai and chanted, ‘Let my people go!’ It was great!” Rabbi Hier and the mothers of the newly religious teenagers were interviewed on a radio show about the turn to religion. But there were still problems in town. By the time Belzberg reached twelfth grade, lots of teens—including religious teens—were into drugs. Belzberg describes the battle plan that had been cooked up by Rabbis Bak and Hier. “They called an emergency meeting of all the kids in shul and once everyone was there they played a taped phone call from Rabbi Jakobovits, the chief rabbi of England, and they read anti-drug responsa written by Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Soloveitchik. Then they asked all the kids to sign a document stating that they would stop taking drugs. The document was to be publicized as a full-page ad in the local Jewish paper.” Belzberg and seven of his friends were accepted to YU, their school of choice, under Rabbi Bak’s influence. Belzberg began to serve as an NCSY advisor, speaking before groups and spending almost every Shabbat in a different city during his years in college. Later, when Belzberg went into business, he became the lay president of NCSY. During Belzberg’s second year in YU, there were seven Vancouver boys learning in Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s James Striar School of Jewish Studies class, which was geared for promising students with a minimal Torah background. Rabbi Riskin asked how there happened to be so many students from Vancouver. They told him about Rabbi Bak. “Rabbi Riskin flew out to Vancouver and convinced Pinky to come back to be the 46 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
principal of the first Ohr Torah high school in New York. I worked as a dorm counselor in the same school.” The next part of his story doesn’t end happily. “Pinky took the twelfth grade students to Israel. He had each of them placed at an appropriate school and went to visit each one of them. On his return home, he told me how he had looked out over Jerusalem from his room in the Plaza Hotel. ‘I’ve fallen in love with Israel all over again,’ he said. ‘I’ve worked in chinuch all my life. Now I want to return to live in Israel.’ “He came home the day before Purim. We planned on taking the high school kids to dance and sing in the neighborhood. Pinky wanted to visit his parents the very day he returned and asked me to drive him to the train station. He came back the next day and joined us all at Lincoln Square Synagogue for the Megillah reading and Purim seudah. “I was standing next to him when, in the middle of the festivities, he suffered a brain aneurysm.” Hundreds of loving students and former NCSY kids turned up for the funeral. At the time, Rabbi Bak’s wife was pregnant with twins. ****** Years later, Belzberg’s parents have a different take on their son’s turn to Orthodoxy. “Today they’re thrilled. They see the lives my sisters and I lead as a result, especially in the Jewish community. They also see friends we had while growing up who today lead different kinds of lives and they see there is no comparison. “Had I not discovered NCSY and Pinky Bak, I might be dead—from OD-ing, drunk driving, AIDS, who knows? Instead, my life has meaning. Every day is significant; being Jewish is significant. I wake up in the morning and ask, ‘What do the Jewish people need? What should I do for the Jewish people today?’ “Among the major moments in my life were my involvement with social action and kiruv. I worked for Soviet Jewry and was active in demonstrating and teaching Judaism. “We should constantly be asking ourselves, ‘What can I contribute to this world that I am passing through?’” Belzberg, who lives in Jerusalem, invests in Israel’s meteoric high-tech companies. As the founding chairman of Israel’ s MiBereshit organization, he provides educational material to more than 10,000
elementary public school kids in Israel and to IDF commanders, helping them explore their Jewish identities.* Upon reaching Bat Mitzvah age, the Belzbergs’ daughter, Michal, agreed with her parents that instead of a large party, the money should be used to found a fund that would help families who had been struck by terror. The Belzbergs added to that amount and gave $100,000 to begin the project. That is how the OneFamily Fund was born. Since its inception, OneFamily Fund has helped more than 10,000 victims of terror. The NCSY boy from Vancouver has, indeed, passed on his sense of tzedakah and involvement in Israel and Am Yisrael to the next generation of Jewish teen activists, both within his family and beyond it. And these kids aren’t singing Christmas carols. *Information has been updated since the article first appeared. g
Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.
48 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 49
At first glance, a book review might be considered an odd choice for this section. However, this article by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is less of a book review and more of a deeply stirring essay—even more relevant now than it was when it was first published—about the importance of engaging in outreach with our unaffiliated brothers and sisters at this pivotal moment in Jewish history.
O
ne people, Two Worlds could have been the most exciting development in Jewish outreach since the invention of the smile. The storm clouds of controversy that quickly surrounded it, however, have largely eclipsed the book’s promise for kiddush Hashem. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman is a talmid chacham of note who has made a life of learning and writing in Lakewood, New Jersey. He has many writing credits to his name; his greatest accomplishment, Shufra Deshtara, has become the standard work on the intricacies of Jewish documents for genuine Torah scholars. A few years ago, a non-observant acquaintance in the publishing industry pitched an idea to him: he would love to see two Jews at opposite ends of the religious spectrum trade their world views. They would exchange e-mail correspondence, which would be collected and published by an established publishing house. Rabbi Reinman was asked to represent the Orthodox point of view. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of Amer-
ica, was chosen to speak for Reform. Rabbi Reinman was sensitive to a half-century-long policy in much of the Orthodox community of shunning official rabbinic contact that seems to confer legitimacy on non-Orthodox clergy. He won assurances from the publisher that he would be presented as a private individual who happens to be a rabbi, rather than as a spokesperson for any rabbinic group. Rabbi Reinman (pg. 230) makes explicit reference to the policy, and clearly endorses it himself. (Even his book-industry friend told him that he understood why the Orthodox refuse to officially debate others. Moral clarity, he called it.) He consulted with major Torah figures in Israel and America, who gave their approval to the project. He and his mentors—and this reviewer—believed that it would be obvious to most thinking people that this endeavor was not the beginning of a slippery slope towards greater recognition. The nature of the contact between them was both non-official and so obviously adversarial (while entirely respectful), that no one would think that the purpose of the venture
was to lend credence to heretical views. To the contrary, the book would hold up the inconsistencies and failures of Reform Judaism in sharp relief for at least some open-minded people to see. Much of the opposition was narrow and ill-informed. An anonymous screed attacking One People and circulating on the East Coast says it all. “Reform is not the current issue or threat to the frum velt (world),” reads one of the complaints, urging instead that we dismissively just ignore the lot of them. Rabbi Reinman and the Torah luminaries who once backed him, however, do see Reform Judaism as a major issue. Reform’s very existence challenges our responsibility to the Jewish people as a whole. What have we done to win back Jewish souls who are slipping through the safety net of Jewish identity into irreversible assimilation? Do we meet that challenge through the hundreds of dedicated men and women devoting themselves to Jewish outreach? Should we not consider them our agents of commitment and concern to the greater part of the Jewish community?
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein serves on the editorial board of Jewish Action. He is the director of interfaith affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and a founding editor of Cross-Currents.com. This article first appeared in the spring 2003 issue. 50 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
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Hardly. Without minimizing their spectacular accomplishment, the word outreach is, for the most part, a misnomer. More accurately, it should be called “keep-an-open-doorand-beg-them-to-walk-in.” Virtually no outreach organization reaches out at all. It announces, “We have programs that might stimulate you if you already have interest. Explore a bit. We pledge to make your stay as comfortable as possible.” How many Jews will we reach this way? Can it ever amount, at best, to a small fraction of those who continue to walk out of Jewish history? Very few people think out of the box, designing programs to appeal to those who do not yet have any interest in returning to Judaism or exploring their legacy. The exceptions are few. The National Jewish Outreach Program pioneered events like Shabbat Across America, which reach a large cohort of the Jewish world. Aish HaTorah has always employed serious marketing and advertising tools to understand the needs of different subgroups in the community, and tailor-makes messages to reach them. Chabad, of course, has done wonders with the message of unadulterated love. For decades, we have been locked out of the minds and hearts of most of our brothers and sisters. The majority of American Jews are neither Reform, nor Conservative, nor Orthodox. They simply do not affiliate. Most of them will never meet an Orthodox Jew. They claim no interest in deepening their understanding of Judaism or exploring their spiritual legacy. They are unlikely to ever meet up with traditional outreach workers, let alone walk into one of their classes or events. Those who affiliate with other denominations do not substantially increase their chances of meeting up with authentic Jewish expression. Orthodox programs and teachers are hardly ever allowed into non-Orthodox venues. Understandably, most non-Orthodox clergy are only willing to invite Orthodox representatives if they will be invited in return to Orthodox turf. The overwhelming majority of Orthodox rabbis balk at such reciprocity, seeing it as giving respectability to views entirely off the map of authentic Judaism. Panels and symposia, where different denominations present their views, are also shunned. Most Orthodox rabbis have followed the advice of the roshei yeshivah who, a half century ago, forbade rabbis from lending tacit legitimacy to non-Orthodox clergy by sharing panels of a religious nature. There are excellent reasons for this policy, but we pay a definite price for it. The vast majority of Jews never get a chance to meet us or our beliefs. Many of our rabbis believe that even a non-reciprocal visit to a non-Orthodox location is too compromising. Thus, even when doors to other Jewish groups open up to us, we are forced to slam them shut. (Many, but apparently not all. According to a letter penned by Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt”l, himself, and read two years in succession at the annual convention of the Association of Jewish Outreach Professionals, kiruv workers should look for opportunities to teach authentic Torah at Reform and Conservative synagogues, albeit not within one of their religious services.) One People will pry open some of these doors. The book is novel and, by now, notorious. There is hardly a better recipe
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Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 51
for insuring that thousands of curious Jews will pick it up and take it home. Rabbi Reinman will be the first Orthodox Jew to speak to these unknowledgeable Jews, at once shattering many of the negative impressions they have been treated to—many carefully and methodically fed to them by their own clergy— and at the same time logically defending Torah positions they had been led to believe were indefensible. Within days of its publication, however, One People was hailed in Ha’aretz as a breakthrough event. The Orthodox, they claimed, were beginning to thaw the Big Freeze towards the heterodox. Rabbi Reinman, of course, repeated what he had said in the book. There was no thaw, nor even anything especially innovative about what he was doing. The ban was on official recognition of ideology, not against acknowledging the brotherhood of all Jews, even those with whom we disagree. The other movements could claim what they wanted to about the book, but Rabbi Reinman was prepared to repeat, in press and in person, “Read my lips. You can claim what you will, but there is no change in policy.” (A scheduled book tour, which would have put audiences in fourteen cities in face-to-face contact with Rabbi Reinman was halted, but not before one memorable appearance at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. Rabbi Reinman handled himself with humor and aplomb but was challenged by a very clever
52 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
question from the moderator: “What beliefs and fully conversant with the would you tell a student who advised arguments of the competition. Indeed, you that he had one hour in which he while some readers will reject many of could either study Talmud with the Re- Rabbi Reinman’s arguments, they will form Rabbi Hirsch, or watch The Sopra- not be able to dislodge the image of a nos?” Without flinching, Rabbi Reinman supremely confident and articulate responded, to the audible gasps of the Orthodox personage whose knowlaudience, “Go for The Sopranos.” Can edge runs rings around his Reform you get more morally clear than that?) counterpart. Ironically, Rabbi Reinman was in a Other objections to the book surfaced. unique position to shore up the non-rec- The above-mentioned attack faulted the ognition policy by taking the sting out book’s circular organization, which of the barbs that have been directed often left the reader waiting for many against it. Non-Orthodox clergy have pages before discovering the rejoinder repeatedly cited it to make two devas- to a point made by the other side. Would tating points about us, both patently it not have been better to write a book untrue. The first is that we don’t speak in Q. and A. form so the answers could with them because we don’t believe they have been compared, side-by-side? Perare really Jewish. (Who haps, but who would pubcan forget Billy Crystal’s “The majority of lish it? Controversy remark, heard by one bil- American Jews are mixed with a good fight lion people at the televisneither Reform, nor would be attractive to a ing of the Oscars, that he publisher. Without such had read the headline in Conservative, nor an imprimatur the Jewish The Los Angeles Times Orthodox. They Trojan horse would never that some Orthodox simply do not inch forward. group had formally de- affiliate. Most of Some critics faulted cided that non-Orthodox them will never meet Rabbi Reinman for an arJews were not really Jewgument here or there that an Orthodox Jew . . . they thought was not sufish? “Last week I thought I was Jewish. Yesterday I They are unlikely to ficiently watertight or for read the Times, and ever meet up with letting Rabbi Hirsch off learned that I would have traditional outreach too easily when his arguto buy retail!” No matter workers, let alone ments were weak. If, they that the rabbinical group walk into one of their said, Rabbi Reinman did had a membership of apnot succeed in completely classes or events.” proximately two people, devastating the opposiand had not even made such a statement. tion, it would have been better not to The canard stuck because non-Orthodox write at all. These people missed the rabbis had been claiming that the Or- point of the book entirely. Years ago, talk-show host and author thodox believe that for decades.) Rabbi Reinman dramatically belied the claim Dennis Prager lured a reluctant young by very obviously speaking to, and es- man to his radio show to represent Ortablishing a friendship with, a Jew very thodoxy. Not so long out of yeshivah, my far removed from Orthodoxy. first reaction was to run without looking The second charge leveled against us back. Sensing my discomfort, Prager was that we refuse debate because we gave me the confidence to seize such an are fundamentally insecure. Neither our opportunity with alacrity. “Adlerstein, content nor our thinking could stand up you don’t understand. The general perto the scrutiny of enlightened critics; ception of Orthodox is so negative, you our only recourse was to ban the prod- can hardly lose. If you do nothing more ding and poking from outsiders. Again, than recite the Manhattan White Pages Rabbi Reinman’s effort stood this argu- with a bit of humor and a friendly lilt in ment on its head. He showed Orthodoxy your voice, you will be erasing negative unafraid to debate, self-assured in its stereotypes and making friends.”
Themes
To do a good job, Rabbi Reinman did not have to slam-dunk every question put to him. All he had to do was demonstrate depth, confidence and humanity, and he would burst bubbles of negativity that envelop our image. The book was never intended to be a modern rerun of the medieval church debates in which both sides attempted to bring irrefutable proof to establish the True Religion. It did not have to be perfect. Would some of Rabbi Hirsch’s arguments resonate more with some readers? Perhaps, although very unlikely, except to those already in his camp. Would this make any difference? Not really. Those who were lost to the other denominations made their move decades ago; there are no more groups of Jews sitting on the fence, waiting to choose between traditional and non-traditional models of Judaism. The project was a classic winwin proposition. As it turned out, Rabbi Reinman did a wonderful job. For a complete newcomer to the world of kiruv, he quickly mastered the approach and contributed sharp wit, wonderful citations from secular sources and the incisive thinking of a talmid chacham. The book will be a successful kiruv tool for years to come. Some of the critics sound as if they truly believe that matters of our faith can be reduced to demonstrable syllogisms, and that Rabbi Reinman should be faulted for failing to deliver perfectly persuasive arguments. How mistaken! How quickly they will learn if they will ply their intellectual wares on real people—and find themselves quickly rebuffed. The complexity of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s Torah cannot be reduced to symbolic logic guaranteed to make true believers out of all but the intellectually obtuse. We should keep in mind the words of Nachmanides in the introduction to his Milchemet Hashem, where he warns that anyone who is at home with Talmud knows that in its study there are no clear proofs of the kind
that exist in mathematics. (Rabbi Hirsch did particularly well in the arena of women’s issues, where in general we are not very convincing.) We should be prepared to admit that we sometimes use arguments that will always seem weak to the outsider. We believe in the truth of our Torah not because we predict that if we put our best in a ring with their best, our man would score a knockout at every opportunity. The nature of our emunah is in knowing the score in advance, not in scoring individual rounds. (Nachmanides asks why the Torah did not record the story of the young Abraham agreeing to be thrown into Nimrod’s furnace as a test of our forefather’s belief. The Torah was loath to discuss this incident because it would then have had to deal with the arguments of the non-believers. The Chasid Ya’avetz in his commentary to Avot answers differently. The Torah was reluctant to record Abraham’s arguments. A position of pure faith is superior to the jumping through intellectual hoops we need to do when trying to convince skeptics.) We believe—as Rabbi Reinman himself stressed in his book—because we feel ourselves part of an unbroken mesorah (tradition) leading back to Sinai. We should expect, at times, to be able to show the attractiveness and superiority of our beliefs. Other times, we should be able to at least demonstrate that we are not morons. But can we communicate belief itself to those who have broken with mesorah? Writing for the non-believer, Rabbi Reinman does a superb job. To those who either missed or rejected these points, the book, and the joint tour that was scheduled to follow, loomed as a dangerous threat to the status quo of dealing with non-traditional elements of Judaism. In time, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, the Council of Torah Sages, issued a strong statement against the book, drawing on different arguments than the ones considered above. Rabbi Reinman did exactly what a good Jew ought to do: he quickly abandoned his
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 53
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54 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
tour. He did not concede that the book had been conceived in error—given his original backing, he could not do that in good faith—but he did agree that the minority had to accede to the majority. As expected, non-Orthodox writers around the country, especially in cities where Rabbi Reinman and Rabbi Hirsch had been scheduled to appear, used the incident to once again “prove” that the Orthodox rejected all other Jews, and were too primitive to subject their quaint beliefs to the scrutiny of the thinking public. One of the signatories to the Moetzes document was kind enough to enlarge upon his objections in a personal conversation. For one, the members of the Moetzes felt that the vehicle was inherently flawed. There is no way to combine, under a single cover, Torah-true arguments with those who falsify it, without according some parity or respectability to the latter. Additionally, while loving other Jews, including the non-observant, is a non-negotiable reality to us (see Tanya, chapter 32), we must be careful to balance that love with necessary distance. Would we be so quick to embrace someone who insulted our parents? Should our Heavenly Father be treated any differently?
Most Orthodox rabbis have followed the advice of the roshei yeshivah who, a half century ago, forbade rabbis from lending tacit legitimacy to non-Orthodox clergy by sharing panels of a religious nature. There are excellent reasons for this policy, but we pay a definite price for it. Finally, it alluded to another problem, one with practical concern for many of us. The work is invaluable for the non-Orthodox, who can only gain from reading it. Do all the rest of us need to study it though? Does every Jewish family need to learn the details of every heretical doubt? Maimonides records as a matter of law (Avodat Kochavim 2:3) that it is forbidden to study any material that leads one to question important principles of our faith. To be sure, license is granted to those who have enough background and must study heresy in order to answer the questions of the heretics. Many of us who lead lives that fully engage the secular world find ourselves confronted by relatives, friends and co-workers about our beliefs. We need to know how others have been taught and how we can move them closer to the truth. But surely this is not true of all of us, and the halachic objections remain in full force. To be sure, none of us need to communicate the doubts and skepticism of others to our children, especially during formative years. The reaction to One People will hopefully prod many of our own to seek proper halachic counsel about what material we should banish from our homes. Meanwhile, the book continues to sell. The controversy surrounding it insures that many people outside our community—i.e., those for whom the book was written—who would not have read the book will do so now, and the clear thinking of Rabbi Reinman will still have a chance to fill a void in the hearts and souls of many Jews. g
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I had just exited the subway at Broad Street. While walking under scaffolding along Beaver Street, I heard a loud boom.
Bayla Sheva Brenner is a senior writer in the OU Communications and Marketing Department. This article first appeared in the fall 2011 issue. 56 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
I
had just exited the subway at Broad Street. While walking under scaffolding along Beaver Street, I heard a loud boom. I cowered, thinking something was about to fall on me, but to my relief nothing did. When I got to the corner of Beaver and Broadway, near the OU building, I had my first real inkling that something was very wrong. I saw women in business suits and high heels running south towards Bowling Green Park. Why are they running? I thought. Then I noticed some people crying. Someone near me said there was a plane crash at the World Trade Center. Someone else said that was the second plane. I figured I would go to my office and see if I could find information on the Internet. When I got to my floor, I noticed that the lights were flickering. What if the elevator stops working? I thought. I wanted to get out of the building and see what was happening. I went to Trinity Street and saw the Towers on fire. All kinds of thoughts went through my mind— even mundane ones, like how
will they ever fix the hole in those buildings? Then, right in front of my eyes, one started going down like a candle. Everybody started running. I heard someone yell, “Look out, it’s coming!” I turned around and couldn’t believe what I saw. A huge skyscraper-tall cloud of smoke was coming toward us so fast, like a snake slithering through the buildings. I realized there was no way to outrun it. It caught up with me. Suddenly, I felt a gentle push against my back, like when an ocean wave pushes you. Day had turned to night; everything was gray and brown. I covered my nose and mouth with my hands, trying not to breathe in the thick dust. The buildings were locked and people wouldn’t let anyone inside; they didn’t want to let the dust come in. Whoever was outside was stuck. The sky was snowing ash. It immediately brought to mind the scene in the movie Schindler’s List where it looks like it’s snowing and people look up; then the camera pans to a chimney of the crematorium and you realize that it’s not snow. I was very conscious that I might be breath-
Photo: AP Images/ Suzanne Plunkett
ing in human ash. It felt surreal, like you would imagine the end of the world. People were either inside buildings or walking through the streets mid-ankle in paper and debris. I found a grocery store with its door open and the radio on. People were crowding around and listening. There was a feeling that we were all in this together, an instant camaraderie among strangers. I got to the Brooklyn Bridge, and even though I wasn’t in the smoke anymore and it was the most beautiful, sunny day, it was then that I felt the most vulnerable. I thought a plane could come and crash into the bridge. All kinds of people were walking across it. I saw an elderly Chassidic man, his coat covered with dust, shuffling along. It made me think of exile; again
“I turned around and couldn’t believe what I saw. A huge skyscraper-tall cloud of smoke was coming toward us so fast, like a snake slithering through the buildings.” we’re leaving, escaping evil and violence. I saw lots of shoes strewn all over the bridge, discarded high heels. It made me realize that even on a day as tragic as this, there were little blessings. I never wore sneakers to work, but because my feet were hurting me the day before, on that day I did. When I reached Brooklyn, it seemed so grotesque to see normal life. People were going
about their daily chores, in the supermarket, waiting at bus stops; everything seemed the way it was when I left that morning. I felt like I had just come off a different planet. I arrived home seven hours after I had left the office. I was shocked to see the city reduced to ash. But I wasn’t surprised that it could happen— the way most Americans seemed to be. Jews have seen such tragedies happen in our history. We know people are capable of evil. When I came back to work, two weeks later, it was Tzom Gedaliah—an overcast, gloomy day. It felt appropriate to come back on a fast day. The streets were still filled with dust. Every building was running on generators; you couldn’t hear yourself think. I came into my office,
and although my window was closed, dust had seeped through the casement, coating the entire area near my window and even my work table. During my lunch break, I went outside to see which stores were still open. Some had closed on 9/11 and never reopened. I noticed a store window display with a rack of clothing and a row of shoes. I thought, How cute, they are all the same exact color. Then I realized the items were all coated in dust. It always bothers me when tourists ask where Ground Zero is. I feel like saying, “Here, right where you are standing.” It’s the entire Lower Manhattan. It’s the entire world. It’s not just one location—it’s everywhere.
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 57
30 for 30:
30 Changes in Jewish LIFE Over 30 Years
By Steve Lipman with JA editorial staff
Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.
3) 3) Greater Greater ParticipaParticition of of Orthodox Men pation Orthodox and and Women in inAll Men Women Levels of ofGovernAll Levels Government. ment. Jews have
Germans from East and West standing on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate, one day after the wall fell. Photo: AP Images
1) GOP, Here We Come! The Democratic Party, political home to a great majority of American Jews since the FDR administration, suffers a smallbut-steady decline, as a growing number of Orthodox Jews vote for candidates of the Republican Party, which is increasingly seen as more supportive of Israel and aligned with Torah values.
2) TheLieberman Lieberman 2) The Nomination. On the other hand, presidential candidate Al Gore’s selection of the then Connecticut senator as his 2000 Democratic running mate makes history. Former Senator Joseph Lieberman was the first Jew, let alone the first Orthodox one, on a major party’s presidential ticket.
long been involved in American politics, but more recently, Orthodox Jews have become more conspicuously involved. Prominent Orthodox personalities who serve or served in government include Joseph Lieberman, former US senator and former Democratic Party nominee for vice president; Jack Lew, secretary of the US Treasury; Peter Deutsch, former US congressman; Tevi Troy, former deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services; David G. Greenfield, New York City councilman; Phil Goldfeder, New York State assemblyman and Simcha Felder, New York State senator.
4) The TheTeshuvah Teshuvah Movement. The num-
5) TheFall Fallofofthethe 5) The Iron Curtain. Iron Curtain. Gor-
ber of once-secular-or-indifferent Jews who have adopt ed Torah observant lifestyles, a trend that started in the 1960s, have changed the face of the Orthodox community. In many American communities, ba’al teshuvah families constitute the bulk of synagogues’ membership. NCSY, founded in 1954, served as a pioneer in helping to spur the teshuvah movement and guide others in the nascent kiruv world. In recent years, kiruv seems to have shifted to the campus (see no. 27).
bachev’s liberalization of Soviet society, beginning in 1985, leads to the breakup of the Soviet Union and freedom for its vassal states. The result: religious freedom and emigration for millions of Jews. Before the fall of the Soviet Union and the granting of religious freedom in 1991, observing religious traditions was only done with the awareness of the risk to one’s job and health. In the Ukraine, the estimate of the amount of matzah baked surreptitiously in 1985 was between 500 pounds and a few tons. Today, with the flowering of religious freedom, the Tiferet Hamatzot matzah factory in Dnepropetrovsk, opened in 2003, makes and exports some seventy tons of matzot around the world.
Former Senator Joseph Lieberman. Courtesy of Yeshiva University
58 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
f
In the sweep of Jewish history, thirty years are but a blink of an eye—but the last three decades have witnessed a variety of changes in Jewish life, some for the good and others not so, some minor-but-briefly-captivating and others of more lasting significance, some sociological, theological or historical. Here are some of the Jewish events that have taken place between 1985 and 2015, both in the Orthodox community and the wider Jewish community:
6) Another AnotherPeace Peace Treaty. Following the historic 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, and a formal treaty the following year, Israel in 1994 ends its state-of-war with Jordan. Relations with its eastern neighbor remain cold, but the peace has held up.
7) Greater 14) GreaterAwareAwareness Sexual ness ofof Sexual Abuse. Abuse Sexual abuse
is openly recognized and is starting to be dealt with appropriately in the frum community. There are even books geared for frum children on the topics of personal safety and inappropriate touch.
7) Here HereCome Come 8) thethe Judges! For decades,
there was a “Jewish seat” on the US Supreme Court. This tacit quota has been broken; today, the Court has three Jewish associate justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan.
9) Growth of of En16) Growth English-LanguageSeglish-Language fSeforim. o r i m English-language Jewish books matured into a massive literature of creative, original material. ArtScroll began the revolution with its commentaries and biographies. The Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud brought the esoteric text to the masses. Other texts have been translated and many original, even ground-breaking works of Jewish law, thought and commentary now appear in English, the work of a number of publishers.
10) Depressing Statistics . Pew Re-
search Center’s 2013 study “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” finds that one in five US Jews describe themselves as having no religion, twothirds say it is not necessary to believe in God to be Jewish, and that Jews tend to be less religious than the country’s overall population. At the same time, the study confirms that American Orthodox Jewry is vibrant and growing.
12) 11) Israel’s Israel’sDemoDemographicGrowth. Growth. graphic
13) A Thorn in Israel’s Side. Hamas estab-
With a Jewish population that for decades trailed that of the United States, Israel in 2008 became home to the world’s largest Jewish population. The current number of Jews in Israel is 6,251,000; in the United States, it’s about five million, according to various surveys and definitions of one’s Jewish status.
lishes itself as the uncompromising option to Fatah, which signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1993 and has governed the West Bank as the Palestinian Authority. Hamas, which came to power in a putatively corrupt 2006 election in Gaza, has used Gaza as a base for terrorist attacks on Israel.
8) 11)Black-Jewish Black-JewishRelations Deteriorate, Relations Deteriothen rate, thenImprove. Improve. Strained ties between members of the two minority groups continued to worsen, exacerbated by differing perspectives on such issues as affirmative action. The nadir was the Crown Heights riots in 1991, but relations have improved in recent years. Hundreds gather in Crown Heights for the funeral of Yankel Rosenbaum, the twenty-nine-year-old rabbinical student who was stabbed to death during the Crown Heights Riots in August of 1991. Photo: AP Photo/David Burns Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 59
Students learning in the beit midrash of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. Courtesy of Beth Medrash Govoha
16) Start-Up People. Israel earns the reputation as the “Start-Up Nation” for the disproportionate number of high-tech innovations emerging from the Jewish state, mostly from one-time members of the IDF, which features an ethos of creative, independent thinking.
14) Proliferation of TorahProliferation Learning. 14) Years ago, the notion of learning Torah for its own sake in America was not very popular—certainly solely learning Torah after marriage was frowned upon by many. And yet today, the number of yeshivot and kollelim across the US is astounding. In 1985, Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) housed three kollelim on its New York City campus. Today, the New York City RIETS campus houses six kollelim. In 1985, Rav Aharon Kotler’s Beth Medrash Govoha had more than 1,000 students studying Torah full time. Today, BMG is a Torah empire boasting 6,800 students, of whom 5,555 are in kollel.
15) The Decline of Conservative Judaism. A sharply decreasing number of affiliated Jews and congregations identify with the movement that had comprised the largest amount of American Jews during most of the twentieth century. Once a middle ground between Orthodox Judaism’s adherence to halachah and Reform’s rejection of the binding nature of Torah, Conservative Judaism loses its hold among new generations of Jews coming of age in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
17) Electronic Torah Revolution. The remarkable proliferation of Torah online could not have been predicted three decades ago. Today, Jews around the world can access Torah at web sites such as ou.org/ torah; yutorah.org; torahmusings.com; torahanytime.com, et cetera. On the OU’s web site, oudaf.org is accessed by several thousand subscribers, who have downloaded the daf well over a million times, making it possibly the largest Daf Yomi class in the world.
18) Explosion 19) Explosion of of Orthodox Media. The
19) The Birthright Buzz. Each year,
explosion of Orthodox English-language media is unprecedented. Currently, the Orthodox and Chareidi press boast not only weekly papers and magazines such as such as the Jewish Press, Yated Ne’eman, Mishpacha and Ami but even a daily newspaper, Hamodia. Orthodox-run news web sites include vo z i s n e i a s. com, yeshivawo r l d .c o m , m a tz a v. c o m and israelnationalnews. com (Arutz Sheva).
Birthright Israel helps bring thousands of unaffiliated and affiliated young Jews between the ages of eighteen through twenty-six to Israel for an extraordinary ten-day trip. Since 2000, the OU’s Israel Free Spirit (israelfreespirit.com), now one of the biggest Birthright organizers, has been giving young adults a life-transforming experience in Israel, connecting them to their roots. The program has brought more than 10,000 young adults to visit Israel; this year alone,
New olim hold up an Israeli flag on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport. Photo: Shahar Azran
1985
1986 1987
60 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
1988 1989
1990 1991
1992 1993
1994 1995
1996 1997
it will run sixty Birthright trips.
20) Communi 20)odox Sprouting of Or-ties. . thodox Communities. As housing
prices in the New York tri-state area have risen way beyond the means of middle-class families, communities across North America have seen significant growth; all of them offering the amenities of Orthodox life at a lower cost of living than in the greater New York area. Young frum couples are moving to places like Memphis, Dallas, Kansas City and other vibrant Orthodox communities. YU, through its Center for the Jewish Future, places between thirty and fifty rabbinical students each year to serve as rabbis or as educators in these growing communities. (YU-affiliated rabbis serve at over 80 percent of OU and established shuls throughout the country.)
23) Upsurge in North 21) forfor 22) 17) Advances Advances AmericanAliyah. Aliyah. Orthodox Women. American The past three decades have seen an explosion of Torah educational opportunities for women, leading to an emergence of a new class of highly educated female Torah scholars and educators. Professionally, Orthodox women have advanced as well, excelling in many fields including accounting, health sciences/medicine, education and information sciences, among others. Orthodox women are increasingly pursuing advanced degrees, especially at institutions such as Stern College for Women and Touro's Lander College for Women, both of which offer women a range of majors and minors, as well as an honors program for gifted students.
While North American aliyah was only a trickle prior to the establishment of Nefesh B’Nefesh in 2002, in the thirteen years since NBN began to promote North American aliyah, more than 40,000 North Americans have moved to Israel, contributing more than $450 million to the economy of the State of Israel.
of a plethora of Orthodox-run programs catering to the special-needs population including schools, as well as respite, camping and vocational training programs. Since 1983, Yachad/ NJCD, sponsored by the OU, has been promoting Inclusion through Shabbatonim, summer programs, support groups and more.
24) Rise in Evangelical for for calSupport Support 23) Sensitivityto tothe Israel. While groups 21)Sensitivity the Special-Needs Special-Needs Popu- and nations have Population. latio n. The de- stampeded out of Iscades have witnessed the stunning growth
rael’s corner in the last decades, some Chris-
tians— especially evangelicals—have distinguished themselves in reaffirming their vocal support for the Jewish State. Employing a mixture of Biblical and justice-based arguments, conservative Christians have become the last reliable ally of Israel. While many Jewish groups find the positions of these Christians on abortion and same-sex marriage as reason enough to distance them, Orthodox Jews have gradually learned to trust and value the support of Christians. As the Palestinians have worked for a decade, with a good deal of success, to erode evangelical support, it remains to be seen whether Orthodox Jews—with whom serious Christians have a particular affinity—can counter the damage by reaching out in friendly association.
Stern College students learning in the beit midrash. Courtesy of Yeshiva University
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Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 61
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Orthodox students on the college campus. Photo: KRUTER Photography
partnership with Hillel, runs the Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (OU-JLIC).
25) Addressing the At-Risk Phenomenon. Since the late 1990s, when the at-risk phenomenon first became apparent, the Orthodox community has responded with an impressive array of programming—including special schools and yeshivot, support groups and recreational centers— for young people who have dropped out of religious life due to various personal challenges. These programs assist these troubled youth in getting their lives back on track and coping with the various challenges they face, whether it’s drug addiction, alcoholism, a messy family life, negative yeshivah experience, et cetera. Nowadays, parents can reach out to dozens of professionals who specialize in assisting the at-risk population.
26) Tuition Crisis. With yeshivah day school tuition escalating, many families
28) The Kollel Revolution. Back in 1970, are struggling to stay financially afloat. Families often face tuition bills that are higher than their mortgages. This kind of financial stress causes shalom bayit problems and other challenges. The OU, through its public policy arm, OU Advocacy, is on the forefront of advocating for an array of initiatives at the federal level to expand education reform and secure greater resources for Jewish day schools and the families who use them.
27) Explosion of Campus Outreach and Education. For decades, Chabad was one of the few organizations with full-time
outreach professionals serving Jewish students on campus; today, there are more than fifty organizations engaged in outreach work on the North American campus. Kiruv has shifted to the campus, with “campus couples” focusing on reaching thousands of unaffiliated Jewish students. But the unaffiliated are not alone in their need of support; the majority of Modern Orthodox college students attend secular universities, where their religious commitment can be at risk. Addressing this challenge, the OU, in
the idea of a community or outreach kollel was born when a traditional kollel was established in Johannesburg, South Africa. Amazingly, within a few years, the unexpected happened: the kollel became a major force in outreach in South Africa. It took two more decades for the notion of the community kollel to take off. Today,
there are community or outreach kollelim throughout the world. Some eighty outreach kollelim throughout North America have brought a vibrancy and energy that have profoundly transformed communities including Houston, Palo Alto, Phoenix and Seattle. Kollelim have been established by various organizations including Torah Umesorah (a major player that has been responsible for distributing more than $50 million to kollelim) and Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. YU and Torah MiTzion have established a number of kollelim with a Religious Zionist bent, helping to grow and support Modern Orthodox communities across North America.
29) Shidduch Crisis. While the precise number of Orthodox singles is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain, there is no A Neo-Chassid reading in the library of Yeshiva College. Photo: Josh Weinberg
62 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Once Upon a Price Tag
1985 prices: question that the frum singles population has grown over the past few decades; this is true both in the Modern Orthodox and the Chareidi communities. While it is not clear what exactly has triggered this challenging trend, and each community sees the “cri-
Average cost of a new house....................................................................$89,330 Average income per year......................................................................$22,100 Average monthly rent:............................................................................$375.00 Gallon of gas................................................................................................$1.09
sis” from a different angle, all are seeking solutions and networking with each other to find them. Another noteworthy development is the emergence of on-line dating sites geared to connecting frum men and women around the world.
30) Neo-Chassidism. In recent years, growing numbers of Modern Orthodox youth have begun connecting to the spiritual energy and intensity found in Chassidus. While many of them shun Chassidic garb, they immerse themselves in Chassidic texts and thought,
attend tischen and participate in Carlebach-style minyanim. The trend is so popular that Yeshiva University now offers weekly shiurim in Chassidic thought, and some Modern Orthodox high schools have begun offering courses on Chassidut. How deeply
has Neo-Chassidus impacted the Modern Orthodox world? Time will tell. g
Special thanks to Rabbi Gil Student, Ellie Schlam, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, Dr. Efrat Sobolofsky and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein for their assistance in preparing this article.
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jnf.org Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 63
Tribute
By Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
The
Rav
of
Lida
On the Occasion of the 100th Yahrtzeit of Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, zt”l
Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (1839-1915). Courtesy of Mayer Neuberger
I
t says much about the personality of Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines and of his life’s work that he remains relatively unknown among some sectors of the Jewish people. However, his memory is very much alive and revered in other sectors, especially in Israel, where many streets and even entire communities are named for him. Early Life in Karlin For those not familiar with Rav Reines, known as the rav of Lida in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Lithuania (now Belarus), a brief biographical sketch is in order. He was born in 1839 (5640) to Shlomo Naphtali and Gela, in the city of Karlin. He was a ben zekunim, a child of “old age,” born after his father had lost his first wife and children in the tragic earthquake that
occurred in Safed in 1837 (5697). Shlomo Naphtali was in Eastern Europe fundraising for the Safed community at the time of that catastrophe and never returned there; he remained in Lithuania, remarried and started a new family. As a young boy, Rav Reines studied Talmud intensively, first with his father and then with a series of rabbinic tutors. One of them introduced him to the classic work Shaagat Aryeh, which the young Reines mastered and eventually adopted as his model for Talmud study. At fourteen, he began to commit some of his original essays on Talmudic subjects to writing, thus beginning his prolific output of hundreds of essays, monographs and eleven published books. He left behind a treasure trove of unpublished manuscripts that are currently available to researchers at the Mossad HaRav Kook Library in Jerusalem. While still an adolescent, Rav Reines and his study partner became acquainted with a stranger who astonished them with his remarkable Talmudic erudition. This man, whom biographers of Rav Reines never name but refer to as a “mathematical wizard,” introduced the young students to the fundamentals of algebra and geometry, subjects with which they were previously unfamiliar; he insisted this would assist them in their understanding of the Talmud. Rav Reines related that his anonymous mentor also encouraged him to study Maimonides’ Biur Milot HaHigayon, a work that incorporates basic principles of logic and the precise definitions of philosophical terms. Rav Reines attributed the development of his Talmudic methodology to Biur Milot HaHigayon, along with Shaagat Aryeh. In 1859, Rav Reines married the woman who was to be his wife for forty-five years, Elke Rachel, the daughter of the rabbi of Hordok, Rav Yosef Reisen. Rav Reines and Elke
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is OU executive vice president, emeritus. He thanks Mrs. Naomi Gordon, a great-granddaughter of Rav Reines (Gela Rabinovitch’s daughter’s daughter) for supplying him with much of the material used in preparation of this article, and for encouraging him to honor her great-grandfather upon the occasion of his 100th yahrtzeit. 64 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Rachel had three children. Their son Moshe was a prodigy who wrote several works on the Talmud before his tragic death at the age of twenty-one. Another son, Avraham Dov Ber, edited and re-published some of his father’s works. The couple was also blessed with a daughter, Gela Reines Rabinovitch. (In the course of my research on Rav Reines, I was privileged to meet descendants of both Avraham Dov Ber and Gela.) Creating the Mizrachi Movement Early in his adult life, Rav Reines became attracted to the Chovevei Tzion (Lovers of Zion) movement, then led by prominent rabbinic figures such as Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever and Rabbi David Friedman of Karlin. These men believed that the time was ripe for the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel. Rav Reines initially hesitated joining this burgeoning movement. But after painstakingly studying the matter, he concluded that it was the right thing to do, and eventually committed himself whole-heartedly to the Zionist cause. Once committed, he became actively involved in the various Zionist Congresses and became close to Zionist leaders on the highest levels. He admired Theodor Herzl and worked with such men as Ahad Ha’aam, Menachem Ussishkin and Chaim Weitzman, despite the profound ideological differences that existed between them. In an attempt to find a place for religious Jews within the heretofore almost totally secular Zionist orbit, Rav Reines founded the merkaz ruchani, or “spiritual center,” popularly referred to as the Mizrachi movement. He firmly adhered to the belief that religious Jews could cooperate with “free-thinkers” for the purpose of settling European Jews in the Land of Israel; this cooperation, he felt, could be achieved without compromising one’s religious standards. He labored hard, often in the face of vehement and even violent opposition, to encourage religious Jews to join the Zionist movement. In an effort to win popular and rabbinic support for Religious Zionism, he traveled widely. He addressed throngs of people throughout Eastern Europe, inspiring them with his famous eloquence, and arranged audiences, whenever possible, with many of the most famous rabbis, yeshivah heads and Chassidic rebbeim of his time.
“He firmly adhered to the belief that religious Jews could cooperate with ‘free-thinkers’ for the purpose of settling European Jews in the Land of Israel; this cooperation, he felt, could be achieved without compromising one’s religious standards.” In a tribute written on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Rav Reines’ demise, and published as a pamphlet by the Religious Zionists of America, the late Rabbi Moshe Weiss quotes the following story in the name of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon (Fishman): In the winter of 1905 (5665), after a decision was reached at the Zionist Congress regarding the establishment of Federations within
the Zionist movement, Rabbi Reines suggested that the Mizrachi be changed from a faction to a Federation. . . . [One rabbi] felt that changing the status of the Mizrachi [would cause it] to become a completely separate unit. He [quoted] the famous words of Midrash Rabbah [(Vayikra 30)] regarding the “Four Minim of the Lulav.” The Etrog possesses a fine taste and pleasant odor which can be compared to people who possess Torah and good deeds. The Lulav has a taste but is odorless. . . . The Hadas has a pleasant odor, but not a pleasant taste. . . . The Arava is both tasteless and odorless. . . . Yet God commanded that all four items be combined and tied together. . . . Thus, [he argued], a Federation of the Mizrachi which would become a separate entity, should not be formed. Rabbi Reines however, made one observation which somewhat changed the entire picture. [He pointed out] that the Etrog which represents the Torah people and those of good deeds, such as the Mizrachi, is not in fact tied together with the others. It is true that the Etrog is brought close to the other minim, but nevertheless the Etrog remains [distinct]. It is an entity in itself. How well this story epitomizes Rav Reines’ stance within the greater Zionist movement! It illustrates how deftly he combined his political acumen with his religious principles. An Innovative Yeshivah Rav Reines was a man of action and practicality who did not hesitate to undertake daring innovations in order to accomplish his objectives. One of these innovations was the yeshivah he founded, initially in the town of Shviciani, Vilna District, where he was appointed rabbi in 1869 (5629). Later, the yeshivah moved to the larger town of Lida, where Rav Reines served as rabbi for many years. Rav Reines’ yeshivah emphasized traditional Talmudic study, while also preparing students to meet the ideological and socio-economic challenges of the time. Students devoted seven hours a day to traditional religious studies, reserving three hours a day for other subjects. He hoped to equip his pupils with the skills necessary to (a) meet the standards set by the Russian government for official municipal rabbinic positions; (b) ready them to resist the competing ideologies, often of a politically revolutionary nature, which were then in full force, and (c) enable them to earn respectable livelihoods in a rapidly changing economy. He thus included in his curriculum Russian language and literature, mathematics, history and geography and practical business skills such as bookkeeping. Stories about the Yeshivah of Lida abound. In numerous memoirs written by former students, the writers, without exception, describe an uplifting intellectual and spiritual experience. Rav Reines engaged the services of Rav Shlomo Polachek, known in the broader yeshivah world as the “illui [genius] of Meitshet,” to deliver lectures in Talmud to the older students. Rav Polachek was trained in the Brisker analytic approach to Talmud study by none other than Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, the originator of the method. Rav Reines also designated Rav Eliyahu Dov Berkovsky to serve as the mashgiach ruchani, or spiritual supervisor, of the yeshivah. Rav Berkovsky was a product of the Novardok Yeshiva, and exemplified its uncompromising commitment to ethical and moral perfection. Students also testified to the progressive quality of the yeshivah premises—the spacious living quarters, excellent lighting and ventilation, a wide-ranging library and meticulously kept Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 65
blessings prior to the recitation of Shema. The eulogizer meant to laud Rav Reines for his innovations in the spheres of halachic discourse, Jewish thought, yeshivah education and Zionist activity. He used the appellation “master of battles” to convey Rav Reines’ great courage in the face of vociferous opposition. In a sense he was correct, inasmuch as Rav Reines himself wrote of the “great and powerful spirit that came and touched every corner of my Students and staff of the Yeshivah of Lida, established by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines in Lida, heart,” alluding to the GodRussia (now in Belarus). Courtesy of the Archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York given inner strength that prompted him to embark upon new and solitary paths. grounds that provided a “green space” for the student body. But in another sense this eulogy missed the mark. Essential Rav Reines was careful not to introduce his Zionist ideology to Rav Reines’ personality were his piety, his sterling characinto the curriculum of the school. He believed strongly that ter and the love and respect he had for all fellow Jews. With the yeshivah, like every other educational institution, was his legendary diligence in Torah study, he acquired vast exmeant to educate and not to indoctrinate. “Politics,” he insisted, pertise in the entire gamut of Jewish knowledge, an expertise “even Zionist politics, has no place in an educational setting.” that was acknowledged even by his fiercest opponents. Rav Reines was not part of the instructional faculty of the school, and limited his involvement to administration and fundraising. However, he did offer a lengthy lecture every “In his writings, he paints a picture of Shabbat—on Friday night during the winter and on late Shabbat afternoon in the summer. Rav Reines would choose a numerous young Jewish men who specific halachic topic at the beginning of each semester, were disenchanted with Torah study, and expand upon it each week by drawing upon the particular Torah portion. He would combine halachic analyses and even with religious practice, with homiletic material, a basic technique in his approach because of what Rav Reines saw as to Torah study. Death and Legacy Sadly, Rav Reines’ ceaseless efforts to promote Zionism, as well as the stress involved in fundraising for his growing yeshivah, sapped his energy and caused his health to deteriorate in his final years. Rav Reines passed away in summer of 1915 (5675), in the throes of the First World War. His funeral was conducted literally “under fire,” as the invading German army was about to enter the city of Lida. Many of the city’s residents fled for their lives, and those who stayed behind to pay their final respects to their beloved spiritual leader were panic stricken. Nevertheless, they arranged a proper burial for him and even managed to deliver several hurried eulogies. Upon Rav Reines’ fiftieth yahrtzeit, plans to bring his remains from Lida to Israel were announced, but to date, those plans have not come to fruition. At his funeral, one of the eulogizers hailed Rav Reines as an “oseh chadashot, ba’al milchamot,” one who “creates new things, [and] is a master of battles,” a phrase taken from the 66 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
the inadequacies of the Jewish educational institutions.”
His commitment to the Zionist ideal was a result of his conviction that the return to Zion was justified by the sacred sources with which he was so thoroughly familiar. That ideological conviction was coupled with his concern for the millions of Jews then in Poland and Russia and the dire future he saw awaiting them. His visionary ideals and practical judgment consumed his prodigious energies. He would have much preferred to devote those energies to his Talmudic studies and to the many books he planned to write. Similarly, his pedagogical innovations were motivated by his burning desire to relieve the spiritual and material plight of Jewish youth. In his writings, he paints a picture of numerous young Jewish men who were disenchanted with Torah study, and even with religious practice, because of what Rav Reines saw as the inadequacies of the Jewish educational institutions. He wished to elevate the spiritual level of alien-
ated youth, and saw the innovations he proposed as the only way to assure success in this area. He was a rare combination of visionary and pragmatist. Because of the circumstances of his funeral, most of the Jewish world outside of Lida remained unaware of his death until as long as a year afterwards. Eventually, he was widely eulogized by such luminaries as the noted maggid, or itinerant preacher, Rabbi Binyomin Shikuvitsky, who eulogized him in the beit midrash of the yeshivah in Radin in the presence of the great Chofetz Chaim. The latter requested that the entire audience sit on the floor as a sign of mourning. Rav Reines was, of course, widely mourned within Religious Zionist circles in Eastern Europe, as well as in the United Kingdom and the United States. A more remarkable eulogy was delivered by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, a famous Hungarian rabbi who eventually served as the spiritual leader of the Chareidi community in Jerusalem. In spite of their divergent views on Zionism and other matters, Rabbi Dushinsky praised Rav Reines with the following words, as recorded in a volume of his sermons entitled Derashah Mefo’arah. On the occasion of the seventh of Adar we note that this year the rav and great gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, may his memory be blessed, the rabbi and head of the rabbinic court of Lida, left this world. I knew him well in my youth, and I declare that with his greatness in Torah he was able to blaze a new path in the study of Talmud and posekim [halachic decisors], all of that
knowledge being deposited in his heart, as if it was munach b’kufsa, contained in a package. Although many of the sages of his generation did not agree with all of his opinions, his intentions were nevertheless noble and pure. The disagreements to which Rabbi Dushinsky refers remain unresolved today. Consulting the prolific writings of Rav Reines and evaluating them in view of contemporary circumstances would certainly be a worthwhile endeavor, and would go a long way towards resolving the crucial issues upon which Rav Reines bravely and brilliantly asserted his opinions. May his memory be a blessing. Readers interested in learning more about Rav Reines’ life and ideology will find the following publications of the Mossad HaRav Kook Library relatively accessible: Geulah Bat Yehuda’s biography of Rabbi Reines, Ish HaMe’orot; Rabbi Ze’ev Aryeh Rabbiner’s anthology Karne Orah; Dr. Joseph Shapiro’s essay in Yovel HaMe’ah shel HaMizrachi. Mossad HaRav Kook recently re-published Rav Reines’ halachic work, Edut L’Yaakov. Sadly, Rav Reines’ many published works are now collector’s items, and his manuscripts are consigned to the Mossad HaRav Kook Library archives, awaiting their “redemption.” Some of his works can be viewed on hebrewbooks.org and similar web sites. (Please note that on hebrewbooks.org, Rabbi Reines’ name is spelled with one yud.) g
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Just Between Us
W
e have been bruised. We have been betrayed. Our communities have been dumbstruck by what feels like an onslaught of rabbinic scandals. Although the number of rabbinic scandals in the past decade, among the countless thousands of practicing Orthodox rabbis worldwide, can probably be counted on one hand—or at most, on a few (in contrast with other professions, such as medicine, in which statistically over 5 percent of the population of physicians in the United States is involved in malpractice payouts in the course of a decade)—every rabbinic scandal is a unique catastrophe that shakes us to the core. We have come to expect superlative levels of integrity from our leaders, and when a rabbi violates our trust, we are rattled and maimed, even if we are not direct victims of the misconduct. Are there any known factors that cause a rabbi to commit acts that dishonor his calling? What can be done on the part of the rabbinate to reclaim and restore its dignity, when a fragment of its members engage in exploits that tarnish its reputation? We present some background, theories and suggestions that may help provide clarity and enable the rabbinate to move forward and upward with a renewed sense of pride and respect.
By Avrohom Gordimer
Rabbinic Scandals in History Until recent history, rabbinic scandals centered around apostasy, and even then, the frequency of such scandals was exceedingly low. The Talmud (Chagigah 14b) records that the sage Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah became a heretic. One and a half millennia later (around 1751-1755), Rabbi Jacob Emden of Altona, Germany, accused Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschütz, the chief rabbi of the three German communities of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek, of being a Sabbatean infidel. (In contrast, the Maimonidean Controversy and other similar disputations centered around the works of certain rabbinic scholars rather than around these scholars’ own personae, and more often than not occurred near or after the deaths of these scholars.) With the exception of a moderate smattering of rabbis who migrated from Orthodoxy to the nascent heterodox movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, unconventional rabbinic conduct was quite rare. What happened as of late? Why has the rabbinate been dishonored by its members on an unprecedented scale in contemporary times? The Changing Role of the Rabbi The answer seems to lie in the nature of the contemporary rabbinate. Tradi-
tionally, in prior eras, the rabbi was chiefly a halachic decisor. Although life wisdom, which contributes to one’s ability to provide guidance, may be acquired by experience adjudicating a broad spectrum of halachic issues for the public—and rabbis have always provided direction and personal counsel—such was not the primary function of the rabbinate in days of old. Rabbis were selected and appointed by dint of their halachic scholarship, and notwithstanding the personal guidance and communal leadership that their roles entailed, their day-to-day function was fairly similar to that of modern-day posekim or dayanim, halachic adjudicators. In the modern era, the role of the rabbi has radically changed. Although halachic proficiency is necessary, today’s rabbis are principally educators, counselors, pastors and synagogue managers. Religious and personal counseling, mentoring, fundraising, establishing congregational policies, officiating at lifecycle events, leading prayer services, public oration, managing synagogue funds, public relations, communal and political activism and everything else involving public and private Jewish life are all within the rabbi’s purview. In short, the modern rabbi is a professional super-Jew. Of course, while halachic leadership is supposed to be
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer is a rabbinic coordinator at OU Kosher, where he specializes in the dairy industry, and is a member of the Jewish Action editorial board. He is a frequent contributor to various OU Kosher publications, as well as to Cross-Currents.com, Arutz Sheva, YUTorah.org and Times of Israel. Rabbi Gordimer is a member of the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America and is a member of the New York Bar. He lives with his wife and children in Upper Manhattan. 68 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
the hallmark of every contemporary rabbi—and some more traditional communities have retained the classical model—the reality is that the rabbinate as a whole has undergone sweeping changes, with modern rabbis often devoting only a tiny fraction of their time to traditional rabbinic duties. (And even then, a good percentage of these traditional duties are farmed out to specialists; how many local rabbis still write gittin, Jewish writs of divorce, serve on batei din [rabbinic courts] and inspect kosher meat?) The contemporary rabbi has his hands in everything in Jewish life, public and private, and that is what is expected. The intense involvement in and exposure to the whole schmear of communal personalities, infrastructures and resources can be hazardous, though: for if one has proclivities toward that which is socially unhealthy or unlawful, he has at his disposal a whole array of people and mechanisms that can be manipulated for his own purposes. The rabbi sits in the cockpit of the community; he holds the keys to communal funds, apparatuses and secrets; and if he is anything short of a saint, he can get into major trouble. Hence, it is not that more rabbis in modern times are drawn toward immorality and depravity; rather, it is the nature of the modern rabbinate, which vests and requires of its members almost unlimited ingress to every facet of the community, that has enabled those with deleterious designs to execute them. Moreover, in former times, young men did not aspire to rabbinical careers. Rather, a community seeking a rabbi would turn to a selected talmid chacham, a Torah scholar showing interest in serving as the community’s rabbi, or a community would contact a yeshivah to ask that it refer one of its well-versed talmidim for a rabbinical post. Young men did not attend yeshivah as career training for the rabbinate (with the exception of the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin, which opened in 1873 in re-
sponse to the dire need to train and place Orthodox rabbis in German communities in the face of rampant assimilation). Today, the rabbinate in many Orthodox circles is a professional career for which young men train. As such, a far more diverse group of rabbis-to-be is present than in former years, and given the contemporary rabbinate’s multifaceted composition in terms of rabbinic duties and activities, not all rabbinic candidates enter the rabbinate with a primary focus on serving as halachic authorities. Some aspire to the rabbinate in order to perform outreach, to mentor, to have a platform for activism and so forth. Naturally, it is up to the community, including the laity, rabbinical organizations and religious bodies, to establish best practices, painstakingly vet rabbinic candidates, implement tight systems of checks and balances and conduct everything with utmost transparency. This is the only way to protect the community. But what can be done to restore dignity to the rabbinate for the overwhelming majority of rabbis who are free of scandal and have done absolutely nothing to enable it?
“Until recent history,
rabbinic scandals centered around apostasy, and even then, the frequency of such scandals was exceedingly low. A few suggestions: A) Rabbinic Duties: Narrow and Elevate Aside from the fact that the plethora of responsibilities of the modern-day rabbi can cause burnout and an inability to focus on primary rabbinic functions, this overloaded job description can also prevent the rabbi from cultivating his personality as a Torah authority and developing his potential as a Torah leader. Although the rabbin-
ate of old—in which being a rabbi by definition meant being an eminent halachic authority and a person permeated with Torah, with the dignity of the rabbinate positioned at an untouchable apex—cannot practically be transposed into most modern communities, the attitudes and foci of this rabbinic model can, in many ways, be adapted. The vision of the local rabbi being a miniature (or full-size) manifestation of a gadol b’Torah—a Torah sage and Torah personality par excellence—dramatically transforms how the rabbi is viewed, and bestows great dignity upon the rabbinate. This stature must be earned, but when manifest, it elevates and dignifies the work and role of the rabbi. The resources and structural parameters of every community differ, yet serious consideration should be given toward reviving this old-new rabbinic model, and relieving the rabbi of some of his non-rabbinic duties so that he can devote himself more to Torah study and instruction. B) Act the Part “And you shall cover it [the Holy Ark] with pure gold both outside and inside” (Exodus 25:11); Rava thereupon explained: A talmid chacham, a Torah scholar, whose inside does not correspond with his outside [i.e., he is not a person of integrity], is not really a talmid chacham” (Talmud, Yoma 72b). Commenting on Rava’s exposition, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, in the name of his father, Rabbi Moshe, explained that a talmid chacham who dresses in an undignified manner exhibits disrespect toward the Torah that he embodies. Rabbi Baruch Pesach Mendelson, who teaches Talmud at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, quoted this insight from his rebbe, Rabbi Soloveichik. The Talmud clearly assumes that a talmid chacham’s appearance displays dignity, such that Rava establishes that a talmid chacham’s inner dignity must correspond with his assumed outer dignity. Rabbi Mendelson added that when a talmid chacham dresses in an undignified fashion, it is akin to a
Listen to Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer discuss restoring dignity to the rabbinate at https://www.ou.org/life/community /savitsky_gordimer. Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 69
groom giving his bride an engagement ring in a paper bag; the paper bag, which contains the ring, demonstrates that the ring is really not meaningful to the groom. No one is suggesting that rabbis should dress like undertakers. However, the special and sacred mission of a rabbi should be reflected in dignified style. The same pertains to a rabbi’s personal comportment. While it is crucial for a rabbi to have a close and endearing relationship with his laity and students, such that personal involvement with them at multiple levels is an absolute must, a fine line should be drawn between interactions that engender respectful bonding versus those that can degrade the image of the rabbi. For example, many rebbeim play ball with their talmidim; these rebbeim maintain that this is a healthy, refined activity that helps form bonds and expresses the closeness of a relationship. On the other hand, a rabbi who joins the men of his congregation for the Beer & Bowling Guys’ Night Out may be seen as engaging in something less than refined, not-
withstanding that the laity may welcome the rabbi’s company. The line between positive and healthy activities with laity and students versus interactions that may compromise the image of a rabbi is nuanced, but should be taken seriously.
ment. These tribes observed their neighbor Moshe assiduously studying Torah on a constant basis during those forty years in the desert, making a profound impression that impacted them for perpetuity (commentary of Rashi on Numbers 3:38). When a rabbi is constantly seen studying and teaching Torah, and Torah scholarship is viewed as a foundational feature of his career, it makes a powerful impression. When Torah instruction is accentuated by a rabbi above other programing, and the congregation becomes part of an engaging, challenging and ongoing Torah study experience, the effects are inestimable. A community can undergo comprehensive metamorphosis when Torah C) Raise Everyone Up through study is the centerpiece of its existence. Torah The community rises to previously unRashi, invoking the words of the Midrash Tanchuma, explains that the tribes thinkable heights, and the rabbi, leading this sacred Torah enterprise, is elevated of Yehudah, Yissachar and Zevulun eventually became populated with mul- and elevates everyone with him. Reclaiming and restoring dignity to the titudes of prominent Torah authorities rabbinate is well within reach. It is up to due to their prolonged exposure to each rabbi and community to rethink Moshe, as direct neighbors of Moshe and his family in the Israelite encamp- paths and take the necessary steps. g
“Why has the rabbinate been dishonored by its members on an unprecedented scale in contemporary times?
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Israel
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Kibbutz Ketura
A Date with Destiny By Peter Abelow
M
azal Tov! Methuselah is a father. At the age of ten (plus 2,000!), perhaps the oldest tree to be germinated from an ancient seed, Methuselah has been successfully pollinated with another date palm, which is producing offspring. But I am running ahead of myself. The rebirth of modern Israel underscores the Divine promise of the eternity of the Jewish people and the enduring connection we have to our ancient land (“Lecha eten et ha’aretz”). Medinat Yisrael, now home to the largest Jewish population in the world, eloquently testifies to the tenacity that enabled us to never forget God’s promises and to keep the dream of return alive for 2,000 years. There are a number of places in Israel that highlight these Divine assurances. One such location is the menorah on the grounds of the Knesset in Jerusalem. (See my article in the summer 2012 issue, “The Menorah—Official Symbol of the State of Israel.”) The Romans chose to commemorate our destruction and exile in the first century on the famous Arch of Titus in Rome. It depicts the menorah of the Beit Hamikdash being triumphantly carried off by the Romans in 70 ce, after the Churban. The choice of the menorah as the symbol of modern Israel and the prominent display of a large menorah across from the Knesset is undoubtedly a statement that with the rebirth of mod-
ern Israel, the menorah and the Jewish people have returned home. We continue to yearn that our return be the first step towards the ultimate restoration of the menorah to its rightful place in the Beit Hamikdash. Another extraordinary reminder of our ancient and eternal connection to Eretz Yisrael is the “Methuselah Tree,” located in the Arava Institute Research Park on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, about fifty kilometers north of Eilat. The story of this remarkable tree begins in the period of the Great Revolt against Rome (66 to 73 ce). It was in the final year of that war, three years after the destruction of the Second Temple, when Masada, the final holdout of the Jewish rebels and several hundred refugees of Jerusalem, succumbed to the Roman legions. The isolated fortress remained destroyed and essentially unexplored until the 1960s, when Israeli archaeologist Professor Yigael Yadin led a major expedition to uncover and restore the remnants of the magnificent palaces, bathhouses, mosaics and frescos that had been built by King Herod over 2,000 years earlier. In the years following Professor Yadin’s expedition, Masada was extensively restored; today, thousands of people visit Masada, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, annually. Among the many dramatic finds the
Date palm grove. Courtesy of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Yadin excavations uncovered was a small clay jar containing dried date pits. The pits had been buried in a corner of the remains of Herod’s palace for 1,891 years, abandoned by the last Jews on Masada in the spring of 73 ce! After it was discovered, the cache of pits was placed in a drawer in a lab in Tel Aviv University, where they remained for forty years. In 2005, botanical researcher Dr. Elaine Solowey, an expert in desert agriculture and the director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, decided to plant a few of the date pits and see what, if anything, would sprout. To her great surprise, after a few weeks, a small sapling emerged from one of the seeds, and has since grown into a young date palm. Now ten years later, the date palm, nicknamed Methuselah after the oldest person named in the Torah, is over ten feet tall, with offshoots and flowers. Initially thought to be botanically impossible, this successful project has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic and other publications, states the Arava Institute web site (arava.org/ arava-research-centers/arava-center-for-sustainable-agriculture/methuselah/). Although the date palm is one of the seven species that the Torah tells us are indigenous to the Land of Israel, and was often used to symbolize ancient Is-
Peter Abelow is a licensed tour guide and the associate director of Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel. Keshet specializes in creating and running inspiring family and group tours that make Israel come alive “Jewishly.” He can be reached at 011.972.2.671.3518 or at peter@keshetisrael.co.il. 72 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Methuselah—date palm grown from a 2,000-year-old seed. Courtesy of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Image of the date palm on the ten shekel coin. Photo: Yehoshua Halevi
rael, thanks to the Romans it disappeared entirely from the landscape in the 4th and 5th centuries, remaining extinct for about 1,500 years. Today there are huge groves of date palms throughout Israel, many in the Beka (Jordan Valley), but this is only due to the importation of trees in the 1920s and 1930s by Israel’s founding fathers, visionaries who were intent on restoring the species to its ancient home. Is-
rael once again boasts a thriving date industry, with 65 million dollars in annual exports. The reemergence of the date palm in Israel is, in my opinion, one of the many miracles of the rebirth of modern Israel. The regeneration of an ancient date palm from a 2,000- year-old seed is the icing on the cake! According to Chazal, the word devash (honey) in Devarim 8:8 refers to the honey of the date. That honey was a staple of the ancient diet, and according to secular historians, date merchants were extremely wealthy. But Chazal tell us that the tamar (date palm tree) was also one of the most useful plants found in ancient Israel, as every part has a practical application. The leaves can be woven into baskets (recall that the lulav holder, with pockets for the myrtle and willow, is woven from palm fronds). The fibrous bark can be woven into strong rope. Indeed the midrash (Genesis Rabbah 41:1) unequivocally states, “As no part of the palm has any waste . . . so are there none worthless in Israel.” No wonder that it became a sym-
bol of Israel and the object of the Romans’ wrath. The date palm is tall and stately, a tree of stature (Shir Hashirim 7:7-8) and the righteous are compared to the date palm in a verse familiar to many of us in the Psalm for Shabbat (Mizmor Shir L’Yom HaShabbat—Psalm 92:13): “Tzaddik katamar yifrach, The righteous will flourish like a date palm . . . . ” The tree has been a popular symbol of centuries. The Hasmoneans (Maccabees) adopted the date palm as a symbol of their victory during the Second Temple period. The Romans later placed the image of a defeated Judea sitting in despair under a palm tree on their coinage (the Judea Capta coin is on display in the Katarin Archaeological Museum). Modern Israel has retained the image of the date palm on the ten shekel coin used in today’s currency. The successful regeneration of a flourishing tamar from a seed that lay dormant for almost 2,000 years reminds us that the Jewish nation, often represented by the tamar, has once again sprung back to life as a vibrant, flourishing people who have returned home. g Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 73
Inside The OU
Synagogue Services I
Expands Its Reach
n an effort to provide even greater support for synagogues and Jewish communities across North America, the Orthodox Union’s Department of Community and Synagogue Services is appointing regional directors to work directly with synagogues and communities. “Historically, we’ve had a small national staff, based in New York and on the West Coast,” said Rabbi Judah Isaacs, director of the Department of Community and Synagogue Services. “But we realize that if we want to best serve the country’s Jewish communities, we need boots on the ground.” The Department of Community and Synagogue Services provides vision, leadership and programmatic support to Orthodox communities and congregations throughout North America. The new regional directors will act as “ambassadors,” strengthening the bonds between the OU and the country’s Jewish communities, as well as deepening the relationships among each region’s congregations, creating and expanding upon the department’s already four-hundred
strong network of shuls. The regional directors will use their talents and expertise to learn about the communities in their jurisdiction, listen to the views of rabbis and lay leaders, and help determine their communities’ and synagogues’ challenges and needs. “The synagogue is the cornerstone of Jewish spiritual growth, social connection and educational development, as well as of deepening Jewish identification and commitment,” said Barbara Lehmann Siegel, lay chair of the Synagogue Services Commission. The expansion will take place in phases, starting with areas that have large concentrations of Orthodox Jews, such as New York and Florida, and spreading out until all areas of the country not previously served are supported. Rabbi Isaacs hopes to have North America fully covered by the end of next year. Though regional directors are still being hired, this past August and September the department welcomed Naftali Herrmann and Rabbi Dovid Cohen as new regional directors.
Naftali Herrmann In his new role as southeast regional director for the Department of Community and Synagogue services, Naftali Herrmann will work with shuls in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. “The initial function of the southeast office will be to connect, network and develop meaningful relationships with the region’s synagogue, rabbinic and lay leadership,” says Naftali, “as well as with local federations and Jewish organizations. The first step is going to be listening and learning. We need to better understand each community’s unique story so we can properly address the needs of their synagogues and beyond.” A Jewish communal professional for the past fifteen years, Naftali served as the director of high school programming at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future and director of student activities at Manhattan Day School. Most recently, he served as the director of community engagement for Yachad/NJCD. Naftali is a graduate of Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work, from which he earned a master’s degree focused on communal work and group therapy. Naftali and his wife, Shani, live in Boca Raton, Florida.
Rabbi Dovid Cohen Rabbi Dovid Cohen was appointed to serve as the OU’s New York-Connecticut regional director for the Department of Synagogue and Community Services, representing Manhattan, Westchester, the Bronx and Connecticut. “I will be a traveling salesman of sorts,” says Rabbi Cohen. “I plan to spend time in the region’s shuls. [I] hope to serve as a scholar in residence approximately once a month, and deliver week-night lectures and programming. I also look forward to using social media to connect more effectively with our constituents, as well as to establish leadership lunch ‘n learns.” Rabbi Cohen served as the rav of the Young Israel of the West Side for the past nine years. He received his BA from Yeshiva University, and semichah from the Rabbi Isaac Elchana Theological Seminary (RIETS). Rabbi Cohen also holds a master’s degree in counseling, with a concentration in family therapy, from the University of North Texas. He has served on the National Board of Yachad/NJCD, was a member of the Executive Committee of the RCA and has served as a rabbinical judge on the Beth Din of America. Rabbi Cohen is married to Ruchi (Eisenberg) Cohen. The Cohens have four children. g
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Yad B’Yad 2015
Another Fantastic Summer
It was a bittersweet day in mid-August when Yad B’Yad 2015 came to a close. “There was not a second that I was excluded or alone throughout the trip,” said David Chansky, a Yachad member from Maryland. “I cried at the end of the trip because it was, and will always be, the best summer I ever had. Even after a couple of months, I still love to tell people about my summer.” Yad B’Yad (YBY), a summer program of Yachad/NJCD (National Jewish Council for Disabilities), brings mainstream high schoolers together with young adults and teens with disabilities for a five-week tour of Israel. YBY is one of twenty-plus summer programs run by Yachad each year, comprised of inclusive sleep-away camps, shadow programs, day camps and Birthright trips. The first YBY trip in 1995 consisted of just sixteen high school volunteers and thirteen Yachad members. Contrast that to this past summer, which brought a combined 200 participants—100 on each of the two sessions. The program takes the campers across the country from north to south,
while they learn and socialize in an inclusive way. “The most valuable skill I learned [on YBY] was Inclusion, which can be accomplished through body language, conversation and general awareness,” said Robin Tassler of New Jersey, a high schooler who participated in YBY this past summer. This summer’s activities included (but were not limited to) rappelling and zip-lining, hiking in the Golan, volunteering at the Israel Food Pantry, visiting The Israel Children’s Museum’s Dialogue in the Dark and Invitation to Silence exhibits, painting wall murals and participating in a kumzitz at the Kotel. Regardless of the activity, the catchphrase of this summer program is “everyone belongs.” In the words of Zack Pollack, a Yachad member from New Jersey, “YBY surrounds me with the love of friends and the acceptance of who I am while bringing me spiritually closer to my Jewish heritage.”
For more information about joining Yad B’Yad this coming summer, visit www.yachad.org/summer/.
בראשית נח לך לך וירא חיי
Zeraim moed Nashim NeZikiN kodshim TaharoT
שרה תולדות ויצא וישלח
BrachoT shaBBaT eruviN Pesachim shekalim
וישב מקץ ויגש Inspire the בראשית נח לך לך וירא חיי :ויחי
rosh hashaNa Yoma sukkah BeiTZa Bava kama
torah :וישב מקץ ויגש ויחי learning שמות וארא בא בשלך
–Bava meTZia Bava BaTra saNhedriN makkoT
שרה תולדות ויצא וישלח
shevuoT eduYoT avodah Zarah avoT – horaYoT
DeDicate a shiur, or sponsor a week or month of learning in memory or in honor of a loveD one.
Zevachim meNachoT chuliN BechoroT arachiN
Of
Thousands
Temurah keriTuT meilah Tamid middoT kiNNim
יתרו משפטים תרומה תצוה
keilim ohaloT Negaim – Parah TahoroT mikvaoT
ויקרא:כי תשא ויקהל פקודי
Niddah machshiriN Zavim Tevul Yom YadaYim
צו שמיני תזריע מצורה ukTZiN
76 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Explore OU Torah's sponsorship opportunities, from Rabbi Elefant’s and Rabbi Rosner's Daf podcasts to Rabbi Weinreb's parsha column and everything in-between.
www.ou.org/torah/sponsorship
Yachad Gifts
Opens Its Doors
Top: Gift basket for Chanukah Middle: Yachad members Brandon Levine, twenty-five, of New York, NY, and Moshe Dovid Bronstein, twenty-eight, of Brooklyn, NY, prepare baskets. Bottom: An array of baskets line the shelves in the new store. Photos: Stuart Gourdji
Only two short years after its launch in August 2013, Yachad Gifts has opened its own retail store in Brooklyn. Yachad Gifts, a project of Yachad, the Orthodox Union’s flagship program of the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, was created to provide job training and meaningful employment to individuals with disabilities, while supplying the public with specially crafted gift baskets. According to the United States Department of Labor, nearly 70 percent of Americans with disabilities are unemployed. “We are a stronger, richer community if we allow ourselves to benefit from the many ways in which people with special needs can contribute,” says Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, international director of Yachad/NJCD. “If we don’t, it’s a waste of a valuable resource. And people with disabilities are a resource.” Though it began with just two paid workers and a handful of volunteers in a cramped Brooklyn office, Yachad Gifts, which offers high-quality gifts and gift baskets for every occasion, such as graduations, holidays and bar mitzvahs, is now located in a spacious store and boasts a staff of nine paid workers, four of whom are Yachad members. Employees are involved in every step of the process, from taking phone orders to creating the baskets to working to promote and market the gifts. Additionally, some twenty Yachad members volunteer at the store. “I enjoy meeting new people and talking with the customers,” said Chaim Goldman, a Yachad member who mans a Yachad Gifts baskets stand in Crown Heights. “I’m positive and polite; I say, ‘Excuse me; would you like to take a look at the gift baskets?’ I tell them to come see our retail store.” “Yachadgifts.com is the perfect way for us to accomplish multiple goals,” explains Allen I. Fagin, OU executive vice president. “First, it provides meaningful jobs and vocational training to a number of our Yachad participants. Second, it provides everyone with a wonderful opportunity to support Yachad’s activities and its overarching goal of successful Inclusion. And finally, it is a wonderful way to celebrate a simchah.” To date, Yachad Gifts has sold approximately 7,000 baskets. g To place an order, please visit yachadgifts.com or call the toll-free number: 855.505.7500. You can also visit the Yachad Gifts retail store at 1090 Coney Island Avenue, Fourth Floor, in Brooklyn.
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 77 Summer 5775/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 77
OU’s College Guide Generates Overwhelmingly
THE OU
JLIC
GUIDE
Positive Response
jewish life on the college campus profiles of top 25 schools
choosing the right campus
2016 standing up for israel
guide to Kosher meal plans
A publication of the orthodox supplement to jewish action
union
This past August, the OU published the first-ever, much-anticipated OU-JLIC college guide, designed to assist Orthodox parents, educators and students in making informed choices about college. Called the OU-JLIC Guide: Jewish Life on the College Campus, the thoroughly researched, sixty-six page full-color magazine opens by highlighting the advantages of attending Orthodox colleges. “When selecting which college to attend, students should seriously consider whether they will thrive spiritually and religiously at a secular college,” notes the guide. Offering detailed descriptions of Touro’s Lander Colleges and Yeshiva University, the guide advises students that “while there are significant learning opportunities at secular colleges, it does not add up quantitatively or qualitatively to the learning opportuni-
ties found [at Orthodox colleges] . . . that are specifically designed to . . . help students with their spiritual growth.” For those students who choose not to attend an Orthodox college, the guide provides profiles of twenty-five schools and specific information about campus amenities such as minyanim, kosher meal plans, learning programs, and the existence of eruvs and various Jewish groups on campus. “Of course, there are great Orthodox schools, such as Yeshiva University and Touro College, where students can study in a supportive Jewish environment and focus on further developing their Torah learning,” writes Rabbi Ilan Haber, national director of the OU’s Heshe & Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (OU-JLIC), in the introduction. “However, for those students who are going to attend secular colleges, we believe this guide is an excellent resource.” Distilling OU-JLIC’s broad experience and understanding of Jewish campus life, the guide was distributed as a supplement to the fall issue of Jewish Action and sent to synagogues around the country as well as to NCSY regions and selected high schools. OU-JLIC, now entering its sixteenth year of providing educational support and programming to day school graduates on campus, has rabbinic couples serving nearly 5,000 day school graduates on twenty-two campuses. Understanding the amenities available to religious Jews on campus can be a challeng-
ing endeavor, notes Rabbi Haber in the introduction. For example, universities may say that they provide kosher food, but on one campus that could mean a full meal plan in a central location on campus, while on another campus it may mean that you can get kosher sandwiches in a convenience store— two very different situations. While OUJLIC educators are on many popular campuses, the guide includes additional universities with significant Orthodox communities even though they do not have an OU-JLIC educator. The guide includes articles on Israel advocacy, campus housing, and the challenges of being Orthodox on campus, among other topics. The publication has generated an overwhelmingly positive response from educators and parents alike. “We’ve received numerous phone calls praising the guide and requests for additional copies,” said Hani Lowenstein, associate editor of the publication. As incredible a resource as the new guide is, Rabbi Haber cautions students not to limit themselves to the guide. “A college guide should just be the beginning of the college search . . . and students should always visit the campus.” g To request a copy of the college guide, e-mail jlic@ou.org, or call 212.613.8287. To read the guide online, visit /jliconline.org.
OU Begins Offering Paid Parental Leave As part of its ongoing initiative to promote the hiring and retention of women within the OU’s professional ranks and encourage better work-life balance, the OU recently began offering its employees paid parental leave. The new policy grants up to eight weeks of paid maternity leave to women who have worked at the OU for more than one year. “This benefit is a result of the OU’s determination to establish better benefits for our employees and to attract and promote talented female professionals,” says Lenny Bessler, OU chief human resources officer. The policy also provides two weeks of fully paid parental leave to new parents. The new benefit was especially applauded by the OU Women’s Affinity Group, which engages female employees of the OU in ongoing conversations with the goal of creating an inclusive, enjoyable workplace. The Women’s Affinity Group played a major role in advocating for the new policy. “The OU is investing in ongoing efforts to recruit, retain and promote women within the ranks of the OU professional staff. There is no better way to do that than by offering familyfriendly workplace measures and a better work-life balance for employees,” said Allen I. Fagin, OU executive vice president. g 78 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
NCSY Looks Ahead to a
Stronger Jewish Future
2020 Vision “We need to be in the business of changing lives,” says Rabbi Micah Greenland, international director of NCSY. Changing lives is, of course, what NCSY has been doing successfully for more than sixty years. But reaching kids today is much more challenging, admits Rabbi Greenland. “There is much more competition for kids’ time and attention,” he says. How to ensure that NCSY remains on the cutting edge of teenage outreach? Welcome to “2020 Vision,” NCSY’s new bold strategic vision that will guide the organization for the next five years. Aiming at doubling the number of teens it impacts by 2020, NCSY will set nineteen pilot programs in motion, each of which addresses a particular need or population. NCSY will particularly focus on underserved populations in the years to come. A small sample of three pilot projects (out of nineteen) set to launch in 2015-2016 include: New England NCSY Extreme Shabbat Makeover NCSY has long recognized that experiences that fully immerse a kid in Judaism are the most effective ways to transform a teen’s life. New England NCSY Extreme Shabbat Makeover will merge two populations in need of inspiration: day school students from Boston and other New England cities with large Jewish populations, and public school kids from smaller communities in the region. The teens will come together for unforgettable Shabbat experiences. Held in small New England communities, the Shabbatons will encourage day school kids to serve as role models and mentors, and simultaneously
provide the public school kids with a genuine understanding of and appreciation for Shabbat. Southern NCSY Latin Division One goal of 2020 Vision is to encourage outreach to diverse Jewish populations, including Jewish teens with Russian, Persian and Latin American backgrounds. Southern NCSY is therefore creating a Latin division for teen outreach. Significant Jewish Latin American communities exist in San Diego and South Florida. In fact, the Jewish Latin American community, particularly in Aventura, Florida, was recently identified as the fastest-growing demographic in Dade County, according to the University of Miami Center for Statistics. While the community is traditional and close-knit, its members are concerned about their children growing up in a foreign culture and the impact it will have on their Jewish futures. NCSY will offer culturally sensitive programs for these Latin American groups led by Spanish and Portuguese-speaking rabbis and teachers. West Coast JSU’s Leadership Institute Acquiring leadership skills. Bringing ideas to life. Taking charge of a program. This is all part of JSU’s (NCSY’s Jewish Student Union) Community Leadership Institute. Instead of having NCSY staff run JSU clubs at high schools across North America, this pilot program will train and empower student leaders to run their own weekly clubs. (JSU clubs are currently found on 200 high school campuses across the country.) Students accepted to the program will receive extensive and ongoing leadership training with continual follow up from JSU facilitators.
There are an additional twenty pilot programs that have not yet been approved due to limited funding. To learn more or to become involved with these pilot projects, please e-mail Dan Hazony at dan@ncsy.org. 79 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 79
Changing Lives, Hart Levine, founder of Heart to Heart
One Millennial at a Time
By Steven Weil
I
n May of 2013, Time magazine published a cover story entitled “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation.” Defined in the article as the generation born roughly between 1980 and 2000, millennials tend to be, according to a decade of research, lazy, entitled and over-confident. Fortunately, every generation has its exceptions. We at the Orthodox Union are proud to introduce you to one millennial who is bucking that trend. Meet Hart Levine. Now twenty-eight years old, Hart hosted a simple Shabbat dinner a few years ago that sparked an outreach movement. Today, this movement is changing the lives of millennials on all sides of the religious spectrum. Raised in a traditional Orthodox home, Hart attended Jewish day school and high school, culminating with a year of study in Israel. A bioengineering major at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, he remained very committed to his Jewish lifestyle and was an active member of the large Orthodox community at Penn. During his sophomore year, something inspired him to do the math. It dawned on him that even though Hillel was packed on a Friday night, the perception that most Jews on campus were participating was, in fact, untrue; the vast majority of the thousands of Jews on campus were not there. Hart realized that since the Orthodox students tend to be friends with each other, the unaffiliated Jews on campus had little social motivation to come to Hillel or Chabad. A simple idea occurred to him. Why not host his own Friday night dinner? Jewish students might not feel comfortable attending a large gathering, but a peer inviting them to a dinner would not be threatening at all. Hart and his friends had no formal training in kiruv; they were just a group of guys having a good time around a Shabbat table. The handful of guests enjoyed the evening as well and were excited to come again. A lesson was learned—many unaffiliated Jews would get more involved with Judaism if there was a portal of entry for them. Hart had just opened that door. After a year of hosting successful Shabbat dinners at Penn, Hart knew he was on to something. On a trip to Israel, Hart cold called a number of yeshivot and seminaries and asked to speak to the students about initiating these dinners on their campuses when they returned to the US. His proposal was so inspiring, he received about 300 e-mails from those interested. Unfortunately, when he reached out to them some months later, the response was not nearly as enthusiastic. It would take more than a talk in Israel. So Hart
Rabbi Steven Weil is senior managing director at the OU. 80 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
organized a Shabbaton for students from different universities to educate them about his idea. He developed training materials, including pamphlets with titles such as, “How to locate unaffiliated Jews” and “How to run a Shabbat dinner.” The idea took off, and students began hosting other students for Friday night dinners. An unexpected by-product of the project was the effect it had on the Orthodox participants. They had kept Shabbat their whole lives, made Kiddush and Hamotzi week after week, but suddenly they had to be able to explain why they were doing it and what it meant to them. They had to question what they had previously taken for granted and to take ownership of their Judaism. Amazingly, a simple Friday night dinner became a transformative experience for both guests and hosts. Peer to peer, heart to heart. Everybody wins. It has been five years since that first Friday night dinner at Penn. Heart to Heart is now an OU program, with regular participation on nearly one hundred campuses—students hosting Shabbat and holiday dinners on average twice a year, though two women at Yale host fifteen dinners per year. This past year alone, 2,352 students were included at Shabbat and holiday tables, and 433 incoming college students have signed up to get involved. The reality is if every religious Jew in college hosts just one Shabbat dinner, most likely every single unaffiliated Jew in college can be reached. Hart Levine now works on Heart to Heart full time, along with other projects and initiatives to reach out to the enormous numbers of unaffiliated Jews. The college campus is a microcosm of the real world; but when one lives in a thriving Orthodox community, it is easy to be deceived into thinking that all is well in the Jewish world. Hart is waking us up to do the math. The vast majority of Jews are unaffiliated, and one millennial is inspiring hundreds more to do something about it. Hart is the opposite of lazy and entitled, but he is thoroughly confident in the ability of young people to reach out, to connect and to expose their fellow Jews to a life enriched with Torah values. I fervently hope that my generation is inspired by him as well. g Funding for Heart to Heart primarily comes from the OU, although it has also received grants from the Steinhardt Foundation and other sources. Parents and grandparents of students involved have also generously donated to the cause. To find out how you can get involved, e-mail Hart Levine at levineh@ou. org. To donate to Heart to Heart, visit www.ou.org/giving/donate-h2h/.
OU Press is working on a host of exciting projects that will appear over the next few months. Some focus on the teachings of the preeminent Talmudist and philosopher Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. All bear the same hallmark of quality you have come to expect from OU Press. The Concise Code of Jewish Law: A Guide to Prayer and Religious Observance on the Sabbath— Revised Edition By Rabbi Gersion Appel Edited by Rabbi Daniel Goldstein OU Press and Koren Publishers Jerusalem Part of a projected four-volume series covering all the major aspects of Jewish law applicable in our times, Concise Code aims to provide a user-friendly and accessible presentation of halachah le’ma’aseh for the current generation. This project was initiated by Rabbi Gersion Appel, who published two volumes of Concise Code in his lifetime, and OU Press has undertaken the mission of updating the existing volumes and completing the project. In this volume on the laws of Shabbat, Rabbi Daniel Goldstein, building upon Rabbi Appel’s foundation, has produced a thoroughly researched work addressing contemporary realities while citing the opinions of a broad spectrum of leading posekim. Like the previous edition of Concise Code, this book is destined to become a classic resource of practical halachah. Siddur Kulanu BeYachad Edited by Michael Adler and Rabbi Benjy Leibowitz OU Press and Koren Publishers Jerusalem This siddur, developed by the OU’s Yachad/NJCD staff, is a groundbreaking work in making the Jewish prayer book accessible to all Jews, including the developmentally challenged. Until this point, individuals who were uncomfortable with the standard siddurim lacked any alternative options suited for their needs. The Siddur Kulanu BeYachad is being created with these individuals in mind. The siddur will contain large font and clear instructions, as well as a conceptual translation that aims to elucidate the concepts in our tefillot, rather than merely translate the words. In addition, the siddur will contain a commentary highlighting important themes and transliteration of select prayers. Chumash Mesoras HaRav: Vayikra Edited by Dr. Arnold Lustiger OU Press and Nehora Publications This volume, the third in the Chumash Mesoras HaRav series, collects the dozens of published and unpublished sources containing the reflections, interpretations and commentaries of the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and presents them in English alongside the text of the Chumash. The complex topics in Sefer Vayikra are illumi-
nated by the Rav’s unique blend of penetrating halachic understanding and keen philosophical insight. Following on his achievement in the Bereishit and Shemot volumes of the Chumash Mesoras HaRav, Dr. Arnold Lustiger again succeeds in bringing the Rav’s diverse and multifaceted teachings into the hands of every interested reader. Birkon Mesorat HaRav Edited by Rabbi David Hellman OU Press and Koren Publishers Jerusalem The humble bentcher or birkon may seem the most pragmatic of Jewish books, containing little more than the text of blessings recited surrounding a meal. But students of the Rav and of his writings recognize that the topics of blessings, Grace after Meals, Kiddush and Havdalah contain within them a rich conceptual world and a profound philosophy. The Birkon Mesorat HaRav will contain not only Rabbi Soloveitchik’s commentary on the text of Birkat Hamazon, transcribed from previously unpublished lectures, but a wealth of commentary on a variety of themes related to Shabbat and yom tov, the wedding ceremony and sheva berachot, and the rites of circumcision and redemption of the firstborn. Also included will be a section of reshimot about various halachic topics relevant to the birkon; hanhagot HaRav, recording the Rav’s personal practices; and essays synthesizing Rabbi Soloveitchik’s approach to some of the major topics discussed. Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Principles of Faith, Resurrection, and the Nature of Man Edited by Rabbi Meir Triebitz OU Press and Koren Publishers Jerusalem In the early days of his tenure at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Soloveitchik taught graduate courses on Jewish philosophy in the Bernard Revel Graduate School. A transcript of his lectures for one of these courses has been skillfully edited and annotated by Rabbi Meir Triebitz. In these lectures, the Rav discussed many basic topics in Jewish philosophy, some of which he did not address elsewhere in his writings, and some of which recur in his other works, such as The Emergence of Ethical Man. Rabbi Triebitz locates sources and finds parallels to other works of the Rav, as well as highlights divergences between the Rav and other thinkers. This text and accompanying notes provide a fascinating window into the early thought of the Rav. Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 81
The Chef’s Table
By Norene Gilletz
These family-friendly dishes are perfect for any occasion, especially for Chanukah. They are creative, look fantastic, taste scrumptious—and they’re fairly easy to make. Old classics prepared with new flair, these delicious, diverse dishes come from three of today’s best-selling cookbook authors. Their culinary creations are sure to lighten up the mood when the weather turns chilly. Small bites, big flavors—these dairy dishes are sure to please the fussiest of eaters at your Chanukah celebrations!
Individual Mac N’ Cheese (Dairy)
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter eight 1/2-cup (4-fl oz/125-ml) ramekins or 9-by-12-inch (23-by-30-cm) Adapted from The New Kosher by Kim Kushner baking dish. (Weldon Owen Publishers) Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the Serves 8 macaroni, stir well, and cook for a few minutes less than the package directions. Drain and set aside. Cookbook author and instructor Kim Kushner loves to serve In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add this recipe, adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, bethe flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a sprinkle of black pepper and cause it’s simple and classic. Kim adds many things to her ver- whisk to stir until well blended. Gradually pour in the milk and sion to vary it: pesto, red pepper flakes, truffle oil and toasted cream while stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil, stirring, sesame oil, to name a few. Also, let’s face it, macaroni and for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, cheese is no longer just for kids. The dish has become the “it” until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes longer. Add the food all over town. She prepares it in individual baking dishes cheese little by little and simmer, stirring, until melted, about 5 or ramekins, so each guest gets his or her own bubbly and crisp minutes. Remove from the heat. serving right out of the oven. No ramekins? Just use an oblong Transfer the macaroni to a large bowl, pour in the cheese baking dish. sauce, and toss to coat evenly. Transfer to the prepared baking dishes and sprinkle with the cornflake crumbs. Bake until the 4 Tbsp (2 oz/60 g) unsalted butter, plus butter for greasing dishes top is golden brown, about 20 minutes for individual ramekins 1 package (8 oz/250 g) macaroni or other small pasta and 35 minutes for the baking dish. Just before serving, 1/4 cup (1 1/2 oz/45 g) all-purpose flour sprinkle with the red pepper flakes or other topping. Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper To make in advance, let cool completely, then cover with 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) whole milk plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy cream overnight and reheat in a preheat 325°F (165°C) oven for 20-25 2 cups (8 oz/250 g) shredded cheddar cheese or minutes before serving. shredded cheese of your choice 1/2 cup (2 oz/60 g) cornflake crumbs Red pepper flakes, truffle oil, pesto, or toasted sesame oil for topping (Dairy)
Norene Gilletz of Toronto, Canada, is the author of ten cookbooks, including The NEW Food Processor Bible: 30th Anniversary Edition (Whitecap). Norene is the co-author of The Silver Platter: Simple to Spectacular with Daniella Silver (ArtScroll/Mesorah). Norene is a freelance food writer, culinary consultant, cookbook editor, lecturer and culinary spokesperson. She produces a kosher food line called Norene Gilletz Kitchen. For more information, visit www. gourmania.com. 82 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Mini-Latkes with Labneh
Adapted from The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen by Amelia Saltsman (Sterling Epicure) Yields 48 mini-latkes, 8 to 12 appetizer servings; or 18 to 20 large latkes, 6 servings
These bright pancakes are sweet, spicy and salty, and when made mini-size, they are a good appetizer that wakes up the
taste buds. Sweet potatoes tend to burn easily because of their high sugar content, but that problem is remedied by including less-sweet butternut squash, which also makes more tender pancakes. In The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen, Amelia Saltsman draws on her rich food history to bring her readers a fresh take on tradition, through her trademark seasonal spins on beloved favorites in a yearlong culinary journey inspired by the Jewish calendar. Latkes anyone?
process of removing the liquid. Cookbook author Amelia Saltsman suggests that you try a “shmear” of labneh instead of cream cheese on bagels. Labneh continues to thicken the longer it drains; after two days, it will be firm enough to roll into balls and marinate in olive oil and herbs, which will keep for a couple of weeks. Commercial labneh is available at supermarkets and Middle Eastern groceries, but it’s hard to beat the homemade version, which has no thickeners or stabilizers. Cheese and olive oil are two symbolic foods for Chanukah.
1/2 lb (225 g) sweet potatoes, peeled or scrubbed 1/2 lb (225 g) butternut squash, peeled 1 small onion 2 eggs, beaten to blend 2 heaping Tbsps unbleached all-purpose flour or potato starch 1 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp baking powder A few drops Tabasco Mild oil with a medium-high smoke point, such as grapeseed, sunflower, or avocado, for pan-frying Labneh, homemade (see below) or store-bought Smoked salt or other finishing salt
2 lb (900 g) plain yogurt, either whole milk or low-fat 1/2 tsp salt Za’atar for rolling balls Olive oil for covering balls Stir together the yogurt and salt. Line a fine-mesh sieve with several layers of cheesecloth (or 1 layer of kitchen muslin) large enough so that the ends overhang the sieve. Rest the sieve over a bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the sieve, then cover with the ends of the cheesecloth. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Scrape labneh into a bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Discard the whey or refrigerate it and use to thin and add tartness to soups. Alternatively, drain the yogurt until it is stiff enough to roll into balls, 2 to 3 days. Roll into 1- to 2-inch (2.5- to 5-cm) balls, roll the balls in za’atar, and place in a clean jar. Pour in olive oil to cover. Cap tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Bring to room temperature to serve.
Using the large holes of a box grater or a food processor fitted with a grating disk, grate the potatoes and squash into a large bowl. You should have about 4 cups (400 g) total. Grate the onion into the bowl the same way. You should have about 1/3 cup (50 g) pulp; mince or discard any large onion pieces. Stir in the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and Tabasco. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with paper towels. Have the prepared pans, the latke batter, a large spoon, and a spatula near the stove. Heat 1 or 2 large skillets over medium heat. Generously film the pan(s) with vegetable oil (not more than 1/4 inch/6 mm deep). When the oil is shimmering in the pan (a tiny bit of batter dropped into it should sizzle on contact), start spooning in the latke batter by the level tablespoon, making sure to add both solids and liquid. Flatten each spoonful with the back of the spoon into a circle 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter. Do not crowd the latkes in the pan. You’ll get 6 to 8 mini-latkes in a 12-inch (30.5-cm) skillet. If making large latkes, use twice as much batter for each latke and cook only 4 or 5 latkes in the pan(s) at a time. Cook the latkes, flipping them once, until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the latkes to a prepared baking sheet. Cook the remaining batter in the same way, always stirring the batter before adding more to the pan and adding oil as needed to the edge of the pan. The latkes can be made a few hours ahead and reheated in a single layer on baking sheets in a 350°F (180°C) oven. To serve, arrange latkes in a single layer on a platter and top each latke with a dollop of labneh and a little finishing salt. Or, pile latkes on a platter and accompany with bowls of selfserve condiments.
Individual Macaroni N’ Cheese Photo: Kate Sears
Labneh Yields 2 cups Labneh is a lightly salted and drained cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk yogurt that becomes tarter, thicker and creamier in the Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 83
Bakery Style Cake Donuts (Dairy or Pareve)
Adapted from Something Sweet by Miriam Pascal (ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications) Yields 18-20 donuts If you read “cake donut” and think “baked donut,” think again. Miriam Pascal’s delicious donuts are made using dough similar to a cake batter, which utilizes baking powder instead of yeast to rise. So if you’re intimidated by yeast (and even if you’re not), you’ll appreciate the simplicity of this recipe. These donuts stay fresher longer than yeast donuts. Sufganiyot, American-style! 2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 3/4 cups flour 3/4 cup milk or soy milk 1/4 cup oil Oil, for frying Glaze, optional (see below)
donuts and let your guests enjoy creating their own flavor combinations. Variation: To make Cinnamon-Sugar Donut Holes: Combine 4 teaspoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Fry the small dough circles in hot oil for about 30 seconds per side. Remove from oil and roll hot donut holes in sugar mixture. Set aside to cool. Plan Ahead: These donuts are best fresh from the pan, and should ideally be eaten within the first few hours; however, they are still great the next day. Do not freeze.
Three Easy Glazes (Dairy or Pareve) These are just three of the easy glazes that Miriam Pascal suggests in her new baking cookbook, Something Sweet (ArtScroll/Mesorah). This should be enough to get you started. If you feel that your glaze is too thin to hold up well or too thick to drizzle, add a little more powdered sugar or liquid, respectively, to attain the perfect texture. Each glaze yields enough to glaze a whole lot of donuts (or one standard cake). Vanilla Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 1 Tbsp light corn syrup or honey 1 Tbsp milk or soy milk 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, beat together eggs and sugar until smooth and creamy, 2-5 minutes. Add baking powder, nutmeg, and vanilla; beat to combine. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add one-third of the flour, followed by the milk, followed by another third of the flour; add oil, then remaining flour. Beat until a sticky dough forms. Refrigerate dough until firm, 1-2 hours or up to overnight. Remove dough from the fridge (the dough will not rise until it is fried). Place it on a heavily floured surface. The dough will still be somewhat sticky, so it’s important to use plenty of flour to roll it out. Roll dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut out dough circles; then, with a smaller cutter or glass, cut a small circle from the center. Carefully pick up each donut to make sure it retains its shape. Reserve the small circles to fry as donut holes (see Variation). Heat about 2 inches of oil in a medium saucepan or deep fryer over medium heat. Test the oil by dipping a donut into the oil; when ready, it will start to bubble immediately. Fry 2 or 3 donuts at a time. Wait until you see the golden brown color start to creep up the side of the center before turning donuts. This will take about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Flip the donuts and fry until golden brown on the other side, about a minute. Remove from oil; drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Allow to cool slightly before glazing, optional.
Confetti Cheesecake Cupcakes
Note: For Chanukah, Miriam Pascal likes to serve these donuts on a “donut bar.” Prepare a variety of glazes; present them in small cups or jars. Set out a variety of sprinkles, cookie crumbs, chopped nuts, and other toppings. Serve the
Adapted from Something Sweet by Miriam Pascal (ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications) Yields 9-10 servings
84 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Cream Cheese Glaze 2 oz cream cheese or soy cream cheese 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 Tbsp milk or soy milk Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Chocolate Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 2 Tbsp milk or soy milk Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.
(Dairy or Pareve)
JA 3.75x5 Confetti Cheesecake Cupcake Photo: Miriam Pascal
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These adorable little cheesecakes make a great party treat. They’re kid-friendly thanks to the color, and adult-friendly thanks to the great flavor! Bonus: They’re really easy to make! 9-10 vanilla sandwich cookies 8 oz cream cheese or soy cream cheese 1/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3 cup colorful sprinkles Topping: 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or nondairy whipped topping 1/4 cup powdered sugar Sprinkles, optional, for decorating Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners (you will only need 9-10). Place a sandwich cookie into each liner. In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add sprinkles; stir gently to distribute evenly. Divide filling between prepared liners. Bake for 17-18 minutes, or until tops are set. Set aside to cool completely. Prepare the topping: Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Stir in powdered sugar. Place topping into a piping bag; pipe over cooled cheesecakes. Decorate with remaining sprinkles.
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Variation: For cookies ’n cream cheesecake cupcakes: Substitute chocolate sandwich cookies for the vanilla cookie base. Substitute 1/3 cup chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs for the sprinkles. Plan Ahead: These mini cheesecakes freeze well in an airtight container or zip-lock bag. For best results, freeze them without the whipped cream topping; add it just before serving.
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Reviews in Brief
By Gil Student
Journey Through Nach: Navigating Nach with Insights and Perek Summaries (2 volumes) By Daniel Fine and Chaim Golker Adir Press Brooklyn, 2014 805 pages
We often associate the reflourishing study of Tanach in the Orthodox community with the impressive analytics of the “New School” that effectively began with Nehama Leibowitz and continues to this day. Yet with all the brilliant lectures, journals and books, are the average laypeople neglecting the basics? In Talmud study, we differentiate between studying in depth (iyun) and covering ground (bekiut). The “New School” is providing iyun on an unprecedented level. The OU’s successful Nach Yomi program (www.ou.org/torah/nach-series/nach-yomi) has motivated many to tackle the difficult task of bekiut, studying every verse of the Bible. Daily Nach UK and Daily Nach Israel are similar independent programs. The text that was born from these programs, Journey Through Nach, is a guide to gaining familiarity with every book and chapter of Nach. The authors summarize every chapter clearly and briefly. Additionally, they add occasional divrei Torah from classical commentaries and mussar greats, as well as in-depth essays in the back of the book on topics of Jewish law and thought that emerge from the Biblical text. Remarkably, this is a series from the traditional beit midrash, not the academy or the “New School.” One might call it Chareidi or at least emerging from the Chareidi yeshivah world. Apparently, the revolution of Orthodox Tanach study has spread beyond its initial audience.
The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism (Revised Edition, First Edition published in 2002) By David Sears Meorei Ohr 2015 370 pages
Chicken and meat have been part of the Jewish menu, particularly on Shabbat and holidays, since time immemorial. Can anyone construct a coherent traditional argument to refrain from those delights? Some activists greatly overstate the case for vegetarianism, cherry-picking sources and ignoring history. In contrast, Rabbi David Sears presents an honest survey of the issues and different views. He masterfully de-
scribes the halachic, philosophical and kabbalistic arguments, incorporating translations of key texts and extensive endnotes. While himself a vegetarian, Rabbi Sears clearly demonstrates that eating meat is religiously acceptable. According to some, vegetarianism is an Edenic ideal to which one should strive. According to others, eating meat shows the difference between humans and animals, perhaps even elevating the consumed animals to a higher level of existence. But all agree that we should minimize cruelty to animals and eat healthily. I often hear rabbis say that one of the greatest personal challenges facing this generation is handling material plenitude responsibly. Too many of us eat too much and for all the wrong reasons. Even a limited vegetarianism— perhaps only during weekdays—can help us think differently about food and its purpose in our daily lives.
A Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates By Shlomo M. Brody Maggid Books Jerusalem, 2014 429 pages
As technology and culture change, as unique situations arise, many people want to know what Judaism has to say about the issues of the day. Yet Jewish law is anything but straightforward. An honest discussion must include multiple opinions that weave their way through history, at times intersecting and then diverging. Many have attempted to simplify these stories, but few have succeeded. Rabbi Shlomo Brody consistently presents issues “ripped from the headlines” in an accessible yet comprehensive way. Think of a hot topic, and he has discussed it. Quoting opinions throughout the ages and across the spectrum, he explains the different views with clarity and authority. Given the great significance of his topics, he cannot fail to take a side, as one may do with theoretical issues of little social importance. However, he often subtly shows his personal view, as one would expect from an author who deeply cares about these issues.
The Early Rishonim: A Gemara Student’s Guide By Aryeh J. Leibowitz 2015 73 pages
The standard yeshivah student intentionally looks at the Talmud and commentaries ahistorically, judging the backand-forth arguments on their merits and not on who made
Rabbi Gil Student writes frequently on Jewish issues and runs TorahMusings.com. He is a member of the Jewish Action editorial board. 86 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
the claims and why. While this is appropriate, it masks an important piece of Judaism—mesorah, tradition. Judaism is based on an ancient tradition passed down through the millennia. If we fail to recognize the transmission from teachers to students, we lose appreciation for the precious mesorah we possess. In his day, the Rambam included a list of the chain of transmission in the introduction to his Mishneh Torah. The Meiri updated the list until his day, as did others after him. Rabbi Aryeh Leibowitz takes us back to the tenth through twelfth centuries and describes the chain of transmission in those important years. Starting with the early Rishonim, he explains to the yeshivah student the paths of those famous rabbis, whose commentaries and rulings are widely studied in yeshivot. With Rabbi Leibowitz’s short and easily read book, which is informed by modern scholarship but completely traditional, a yeshivah student will learn where the people whose names he sees so often lived, from whom they learned Torah, and what books they published. For example, students are probably familiar with Rabbi Shimshon (the Rash) of Shantz. But do they know that he was the third most important Tosafist, behind only Rabbeinu Tam and the Ri? Or that he moved to Israel toward the end of his life because of anti-Semitism in France? Rabbi Leibowitz’s book is an important supplement to a traditional yeshivah education.
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Books HOW FREE WILL WORKS By Dovid Lieberman Feldheim Publishers New York, 2015 335 pages
Reviewed by Benjamin Blech
I
saac Bashevis Singer, the Nobel prize-winning Yiddish author, was once famously asked, “Do you believe in free will?” He wryly replied, “Of course! Do I have a choice?” In spite of the seeming contradiction, Judaism has unequivocally affirmed that we have no choice but to believe that we are free to act in accord with our own wishes, to personally decide upon the meaning of our lives and our purpose, to chart our own destinies—and, what’s more, to determine our place in the World to Come based on our free willed resolutions here on Earth. As Maimonides put it in his Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance: If God decreed that a person should be righteous or wicked, or if there was some force inherent in his nature which irreRabbi Benjamin Blech is an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, author and lecturer. He is a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, is a regular contributor on Aish.com, and is a frequent lecturer in Jewish communities around the world. He is the author of fifteen best-selling books; the latest book, The Sistine Chapel: Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican (New York, 2009), is now available in twenty-five countries and TV and movie rights are being negotiated. Rabbi Blech lives in New York.
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sistibly drew him to a particular course . . . how could God have commanded us through the prophets, “Do this and do not do that, improve your ways and do not follow your wicked impulses,” when from the beginning of his existence, a person’s destiny had already been decreed? . . . What room would there be for the whole of the Torah? By what right or justice could God punish the wicked or reward the righteous? “Shall not the judge of all the earth act justly?” [Genesis 18:25] In his just published new work, How Free Will Works: The Blueprints To Take Charge Of Your Life, Health, And Happiness, Dovid Lieberman adds his insights to a problem that has perplexed the greatest minds throughout the generations. Remarkably enough, he is able to bring valuable ideas to the discussion that deserve wide readership, serious thought and, in a number of areas, practical application.
The most profound pain is to recognize that one’s efforts have no purpose. That is why it becomes so urgent for us to choose a life’s purpose. As Lieberman makes clear— strangely enough, to my mind, in an easily overlooked footnote—“Proving the existence of free will is not this book’s objective . . . The Rambam summarizes its obvious and necessary place in creation.” For a believer, the truth of free will must be a starting point for faith. Lieberman does spend some time crystallizing possible ways in which, based on the most current scientific thought, Divine omniscience does not preclude personal choice. He quotes Albert Einstein’s famous dictum that “the distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Incorporating ideas from the field of quantum physics, he introduces us to the findings of Dr. John Wheeler, one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists,
who demonstrated that an observation in the present can retroactively cause the emergence into reality of an event that occurred in the past—regardless of whether the outcome should logically have been determined long ago. With regard to the seemingly preordained determinism resulting from our heredity and/or environment, Lieberman makes the important point that modern findings prove what our sages said long ago: Circumstances do not relate to life satisfaction, but subjective feelings do—and subjective feelings are a direct reflection of our choices, not conditions. Quoting research recently published out of Harvard University, he points out that “only 10 percent of our long-term happiness is predicted by the external world; 90 percent of our long-term happiness is dependent on how our brain processes the external world.” This view makes our lives a story scripted by our own pens and limited only by our own character and self-chosen dreams. The publisher’s blurb on the flyleaf emphasizes how this book “sheds fascinating light on the cosmic network of interlacing forces that operate in creation—such as Divine Providence, mazal and prayer—and reveals the power and parameters assigned to each.” But truth be told, that is not what I found to be the most effective or illuminating aspect of the book. One of the problems publishers face is how best to categorize a work: where does this book best belong on the shelves? Should it be found in the section of theology, philosophy or Judaica? My choice would be the selfhelp section. Rather than stressing the title itself, How Free Will Works, I personally found the subtitle more revealing: The Blueprints To Take Charge Of Your Life, Health, And Happiness. Lieberman’s scholarship is extraordinary, both in Jewish sources and with regard to contemporary findings in the fields of psychology and sociology. From these areas of expertise he espouses a philosophy rooted primarily in the need for self-fulfillment. We each stand on a never ending lad-
Listen to Dr. Dovid Lieberman discuss his latest book at ou.org/life/torah/savitsky_lieberman/. der whose starting point is irrelevant. We might be capable of climbing easily but choose to be complacent and climb only a few rungs at our leisure. Genuine progress— and therefore self-esteem and emotional health—is assessed only through looking at our efforts in relation to our ability. Pioneering psychologist Abraham Maslow succinctly summarizes this point: “If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.” As he does throughout the book, Lieberman deftly illustrates the point by way of a profound midrashic teaching. The severity of Jewish slavery in Egypt was exemplified by the fact that the Israelites were forced to build entire structures on a foundation of sand, structures that promptly collapsed. The most profound pain is to recognize that one’s efforts have no purpose. That is why it becomes so urgent for us to choose a life’s purpose. “The surest path to misery is to continue to put up with all the things that do not work in our lives but are not quite bad enough to make us feel that we must change them. Human beings can become used to almost anything. That’s both the good news and the bad.” Lieberman does not preach. He offers concrete suggestions for willfully reshaping our concept of self and altering our behavior—ways to enable us to choose what is in our best interest—by way of Talmudic dictums as validated by current research. For example, when the Mishnah recommends that we run to perform even a minor mitzvah because “one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah,” Lieberman offers a fascinating study in which researchers asked homeowners if they would allow the inspectors to place a large “Drive Carefully” sign in their front yards. Only 17 percent gave permission. When other residents were approached with the request to put up a smaller, three-inch “Be A Safe Driver” window sign, nearly all immediately agreed. Just a few weeks later, when they were subsequently approached and asked to place the gigantic sign on their front lawns, this latter group overwhelmingly agreed. Simply put, because they had consented to the smaller request and reshaped their self-perception to include the definition that they were serious about road safety, it was not difficult at all to get them to accede to the larger request confirming their previous internal commitment to the cause. We can learn to choose well if we understand the proper mechanism to encourage correct responses. Reading the many examples offered to help us make more morally rewarding decisions, we come away with the conviction that not only do we in fact have the ability to choose the direction of our lives, but that exercising that Divine gift of freedom—the ability that perhaps most identifies us as being Godlike—can be the greatest determinant of our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being. Not a small return for reading an enlightening book. g
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 89
LINCOLN AND THE JEWS: A History By Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell Thomas Dunne Books New York, 2015 288 pages
Reviewed by Adam Mintz
O
n Shabbat morning, July 4, 1863, in Mikveh Israel Congregation in Philadelphia, Sabato Morais, not knowing that the Union had been victorious in the Battle of Gettysburg and fearing for the safety of the northern cities, uttered the following prayer: “Encircle Pennsylvania with Thy mighty shield, protect the lives of her inhabitants.” However, mindful of July 4th, his sermon also recalled American independence as “the event which fourscore and seven years ago brought to this New World light and joy.” Remarking on the similarity of the phrase in this sermon to the opening line of the Gettysburg Address which was delivered four months later, the authors of Lincoln and the Jews: A History write, “Whether Abraham Lin-
Rabbi Adam Mintz is the founding rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and an adjunct assistant professor of Jewish studies at City College of New York and Queens College.
90 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
coln borrowed the phrase ‘fourscore and seven years ago’ from Morais for the commemorative address that he delivered at Gettysburg on November 19 cannot be known . . . . It is also possible that Lincoln read Morais’s sermon, which was published in the Jewish Messenger.” They proceed to prove that “other Morais speeches certainly made their way to the president.” In this masterful volume that weaves an academic yet accessible narrative of Lincoln’s relationship with Jews and Judaism with documents and photographs from the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the foremost expert on the history of Jews in America, and Benjamin Shapell, a great admirer of Lincoln and collector of his memorabilia, have brought this little-known aspect of American Jewish history to life. Through the presentation of fascinating anecdotes involving Lincoln and Jews of that time, this book answers the question raised by Shapell in his foreword, “Is there anything new to say about Lincoln?” with a resounding “Yes.”
The willingness of Lincoln to embrace Jewish Americans in his inner circle, Sarna suggests in his introduction, parallels his efforts to abolish slavery and grant equality to black Americans. The description of Lincoln’s relationship with his two closest Jewish friends exemplifies the contribution of the authors to the field. Abraham Jonas was one of Lincoln’s earliest friends and among the first to suggest that Lincoln be the Republican nominee for president in 1860. Born to an Orthodox Jewish family, Jonas subsequently married the daughter of Gershom Mendes Seixas, one of the leaders of Shearith Israel in New York City. A letter written by Lincoln is in-
cluded in the book, dated “Springfield, February 4, 1860.” It describes Jonas as “one of my most valued friends.” Jonas is credited with convincing Lincoln to run for president in 1860, and he worked diligently to make sure that Lincoln was nominated by the Republican Party. Lincoln’s closest Jewish friend after Jonas was a podiatrist and later a spy for the Union by the name of Issachar Zacharie. Historians have considered Zacharie one of Lincoln’s “most enigmatic intimates.” Yet Sarna and Shapell explain his background and his introduction into the inner circle of the president. Born in England, Zacharie provided conflicting stories regarding his immigration. However, Sarna and Shapell are able to uncover his arrival date as 1832, thanks to the surviving ship’s manifest. In 1862, with the Civil War raging, a plan was hatched (possibly by Zacharie himself ) to establish a corps for the military “to inspect the feet of the men and keep them in order for marching.” In order to get authorization for this plan, William Cullen Bryant, long-time editor of the New-York Evening Post and a patient of Zacharie, wrote a personal letter of introduction to Abraham Lincoln, a copy of which is included in the volume. Zacharie met the president and in the course of five days treated him for back, foot and wrist problems. “Dr. Zacharie has, with great dexterity, taken some troublesome corns from my toes.” Lincoln co-signed a testimonial to Zacharie and endorsed his work with the military. Indeed, his podiatric work soon evolved into a short-lived but complex spy mission on behalf of the Union, which Sarna and Shapell describe in vivid detail. The willingness of Lincoln to embrace Jewish Americans in his inner circle, Sarna suggests in his introduction, parallels his efforts to abolish slavery and grant equality to black Americans. Sir Moses Montefiore of England linked Lincoln’s efforts to liberate slaves to his own efforts to liberate Jews from oppression. Two plays
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in Washington that the Lincolns are known to have attended, Gamea and Leah, also employed the theme of Jewish persecution in ways that contemporaries considered highly relevant to the condition of the blacks. Lincoln’s relationship with American Jews continued to the very end of his life. Shot on the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln was taken, unconscious and bleeding, to a boarding house across the street. Around him gathered family, friends, cabinet members and, of course, doctors. One of the doctors was Charles H. Liebermann, a Russian-born Jewish surgeon who was “for over twenty years the leading oculist in Washington.”Upon arriving at the president’s bedside, Liebermann poured brandy down the president’s throat, removed hair from the wound area and diagnosed the gunshot as fatal. He joined the other doctors in pronouncing the death of the president: “The president is no more.” News of the president’s death spread quickly and the Jewish Messenger reported that it reached the Jewish community as they were “proceeding to their places of worship for the services of the Sabbath of Passover.” In San Francisco, Elkan Cohn of Temple Emanu-El was handed a note with the news just as he was “ascending his pulpit to deliver the usual sermon . . . he was so overcome that, bursting into tears, he sank almost senseless.” After Lincoln’s death, Jews eagerly participated in the memorialization of the president. The renowned Jewish artist Solomon Nunes Carvalho produced a magnificent allegorical painting of Lincoln in 1865. It is the only known painting of him by a contemporary Jew and a photograph of the painting is included in the volume. Even the image of Lincoln for the penny in 1909 was designed by a Jew, an Eastern European immigrant named Victor David Brenner. The final image in the book is the United States penny with the image of Abraham Lincoln. The final paragraph in the volume highlights the special character of Lincoln in contrast to many of his contemporaries. “Others who similarly watched the Jewish presence in America expand, including members of Lincoln’s own inner circle, displayed overt prejudice, sometimes generalizing about Jews as a class. Lincoln never did. Instead, influenced by the Jews who[m] he befriended, he took account of Jewish sensitivities. His rhetoric and actions exemplified for Americans what it meant to embrace Jews as trusted leaders.” Abraham Lincoln provided an exemplary model for politicians and leaders to this very day. g
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Benjamin Shapell
Q&A Questions for
Benjamin Shapell
In commemoration of the recent 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, Jewish Action spoke with Benjamin Shapell, co-author of Lincoln and the Jews: A History and founder of the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, an independent educational organization whose collection includes original documents of world-renowned individuals, including American presidents and Mark Twain. Shapell, who is Orthodox, lives in Israel with his family. Shapell’s original manuscripts, which were revealed to the public recently, tell of the little-known but significant relationship Abraham Lincoln had with American Jews. This special relationship is somewhat surprising since at the time, Jews comprised less than one-half of 1 percent of the American population.
Jewish Action: Why have you invested so much time, effort and money in collecting original letters and manuscripts related to Lincoln and the Jews? Why is this so important to you? Benjamin Shapell: Many of these manuscripts have never been seen before by the public. Through the material in my collection and the scattered holdings on the subject in only a handful of public institutions, these manuscripts tell a new, remarkable and relevant story. The manuscripts reveal much about Lincoln’s development, his setbacks, his personal tragedies, his humor, his humility . . . . The list goes on. It was important to us that the letters be readable, that their color and imperfections come through the page. It gives the reader a sense of intimacy that is rare, particularly in our overwhelmingly digital age. As I researched the materials that went into the book, I was consistently surprised to discover Lincoln-Jewish connections associated with important events in American history—Lincoln’s famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, his presidential campaigns, significant military appointments, the creation of religious pluralism within the military chaplaincy, the Gettysburg Address, the
92 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
New York City Draft Riots and the Emancipation Proclamation; there are even Jewish connections associated with John Wilkes Booth and perhaps even to Lincoln’s last thoughts, of his desire to visit Palestine with Mary [his wife]. There are other remarkable facts that characterize Lincoln’s legacy: When General Ulysses S. Grant was expelling the Jews from his vast military district, comprising all or part of four different states, Lincoln was freeing the blacks; as anti-Semitism was growing in the army, Lincoln was appointing a Jew. [Lincoln appointed an Orthodox Jew as assistant quartermaster with the rank of Captain in 1862.]
broader historical categories—moments of humility, candor, irony, strength in the midst of fear; the moments that tell a more honest, more intimate perspective on what we think of as human greatness.
JA: What are some of the highlights of your Lincoln collection? BS: Here are a few: • A letter from Lincoln to his close Jewish friend Abraham Jonas in 1856, when Lincoln was a lawyer on the legal circuit. Lincoln had to cancel an engagement and implicitly refers to an embarrassing family legal situation that only close friends would share. Jonas went on to play a major role in helping Lincoln obtain JA: How do you go about the 1860 presidential nomination at collecting material? the Republican National Convention BS: I have been a careful collector. in Chicago. [He has been a collector for thirty-five • Lincoln’s testimonials for his Jewyears.] I never wanted to collect just ish chiropodist [podiatrist] and poany material. I narrowed it down litical confidant, Issachar Zacharie. to very specific themes. There are During what was likely his most hishistorical themes, and then more toric week as president, in which he emotional—or perhaps philosophiissued his preliminary Emancipation cal—themes. The historical ones are Proclamation, Lincoln found the clear: American presidents, Mark time to write no less than three recTwain, the Holy Land and Zionism. ommendations on Zacharie’s behalf, As themes go, what interests me most one on the actual day the Proclamais the human aspect within those tion was announced to his cabinet,
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“What’s the Truth about . . . Starting to Wear Tefillin?”
Lincoln’s testimonial for his Jewish chiropodist [podiatrist] and political confidant, Issachar Zacharie, endorsing his work with the military. Courtesy of the Shapell Manuscript Collection
on September 22, 1862. • Lincoln’s letter to his secretary of war, written at a time when anti-Semitism in the military was growing, in which he writes, “We have not yet appointed a Hebrew,” and goes on to appoint an Orthodox Jew to a respected military position. JA: You have a copy of the Second Inaugural Address, a deeply religious document that almost reads like a sermon, rather than a speech. How did you acquire it? What can we learn from it? BS: I believe you mean the quotation, in Lincoln’s hand, of the last portion of the Second Inaugural that begins “With malice toward none, with charity for all . . . . ” This was acquired at a public auction in New York over twenty years ago and teaches us an enormous amount. There is a concept conveyed in the speech that is relevant for our contemporary lives. Lincoln has given us something profound to help guide us in searching for answers to difficult questions during both our personal trials and tribulations, as well as those we experience as a people. In this address, Lincoln provides his personal conclusion—accepting that sometimes there are few, if any, answers to some of life’s more complicated questions. In Lincoln’s case, [he could have been referring to] the brutal reality of human cruelty in the Civil War, which resulted in the the death of over 700,000 Americans and a nation torn apart. Yet, despite all of that, his humble acceptance of God’s hidden purposes was simply conveyed with a quote from an obscure half verse from Psalm 19, included in the Shabbat liturgy: “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” g
Misconception:1 All boys must begin putting on tefillin thirty days before their bar mitzvahs. Fact: There are two main opinions in halachah: boys should either begin laying tefillin several years before their bar mitzvah or on the actual day of the bar mitzvah. However, in some circles, there is a widely accepted practice for boys to start wearing tefillin approximately thirty days prior to their bar mitzvah. Background: A Jew becomes Biblically obligated in mitzvot upon reaching halachic adulthood, at age twelve for females and thirteen for males. However, there is a rabbinic obligation to educate younger children in the performance of mitzvot, according to the child’s maturity level. A Tosefta (Chagigah 1:3; cited in Sukkah 42a and Arachin 2b) specifies that a child who knows how to properly wave the lulav is obligated in the mitzvah of lulav, and if he can “wrap himself, ” he is obligated in tzitzit. Today this is the standard practice; young children are encouraged and taught to perform various mitzvot. The Tosefta goes on to say that when a boy is of age to guard the sanctity of tefillin, his father should purchase a pair for him.2 Rashi explains this to mean when he appreciates their holiness and knows not to take them into the bathroom. Others explain the Tosefta to mean that the child knows not to sleep in them. No specific age is provided by the Tosefta for this obligation, but rather it depends on an individual’s level of maturity. It would seem to be addressing an under-bar-mitzvah-age boy, and this is indeed the understanding of the overwhelming majority of the early commentators. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 37:3) follows this opinion and rules that a minor who can follow the halachot of tefillin should be given a pair. The notable exception among the early authorities is the Ba’al Ha’Ittur, who understands the Tosefta to be discussing a post-bar mitzvah boy. The Rema (OC 37:3) cites this position and says that such is the practice and it should not be changed, and the Gra (OC 37) finds support for this position in the mishnah on Berachot 20.3 In sixteenth-century Krakow, boys began putting on tefillin no earlier than their bar mitzvah day. The difference between tefillin (for which the Rema says to wait until the bar mitzvah) and all other mitzvot (which the Rema agrees young children should be trained in) is that regarding other mitzvot, there is little down-side. However, due to the sanctity of tefillin, if one is
Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky is on the faculty of the Brain Science Program at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 93
not obligated, he is discouraged from performing the mitzvah due to the potential for desecration. The Bach (OC 37) was surprised at the Rema’s comment discouraging laying tefillin before a boy’s thirteenth birthday, which opposes the overwhelming majority of early authorities. The Bach, who hailed from Central Europe and lived in the early seventeenth century, says the custom he is familiar with is that even a twelve-year-old boy who can follow the halachot can wear tefillin. He says the Rema must be referring to those who cannot treat their tefillin properly, but all others should certainly wear tefillin before their bar mitzvahs. The custom in Poland was for a minor to start wearing tefillin with just enough time before the bar mitzvah to give him practice. Thus, the Magen Avraham (37:4), cited by the Mishnah Berurah (37:12), the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (10:24 [in Hungary]) and the Shulchan Aruch Harav (37:3), say that the custom is to start two or three months early. The Biur Halachah (37: v’yesh omrim and 37: d’hai) explains that Ashkenazim actually follow the Shulchan Aruch’s conclusion that one may start when the child is ready, and that possibly the Rema’s strict ruling was due to the fact that in his time, tefillin were worn all day, unlike today. The Aruch Hashulchan (37:4) in principle also sides with the Shulchan Aruch in understanding the primary sources, but says that the Talmudic rule of starting years early was specific to the Talmudic era, when people were more careful about kedushah. Today, however, he recommends that boys not wear tefillin too far in advance of their bar mitzvahs. Rather, the Aruch Hashulchan posits that the custom in late nineteenth-century Lithuania was to start a month before the bar mitzvah so that the bar mitzvah boy would learn to lay tefillin properly. Rav Moshe Israel records (Misgeret Zahav 10:7 on the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch) the same custom and suggests that it is based on the Talmudic dictum to begin studying the laws of Pesach thirty days prior to the holiday. 94 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
The practice among many Chassidim is to follow the Rema and begin putting on tefillin on the day of the bar mitzvah (Minhag Yisrael Torah, vol. 1, p. 126). Historically, Sephardim followed the Shulchan Aruch and had their sons put on tefillin when they were ready. The eighteenth-century Shulchan Gavoha (37:5) records that in the city of Salonika (Thessaloniki, Greece), known for its Torah scholars, the custom was for boys to begin wearing tefillin at age eleven or twelve.4 Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yechave Da’at 2:4; Yabia Omer 6; OC:3) says that Sephardim should follow the Shulchan Aruch and start wearing tefillin whenever they
A painful question was posed to Rabbi Ephraim Oshry during the Holocaust. Among a group of young boys Rav Oshry taught was a twelveyear-old who wanted to start wearing tefillin because he didn’t know if he would make it to his thirteenth birthday. are ready, about a year or two before bar mitzvah. He quotes many Sephardi posekim who rule as such, and cites Rabbi Yitzhak Palagi, the early nineteenth-century Turkish rav, who says that his esteemed father, Rav Chaim Palagi, gave him a pair of tefillin at age eleven. The Yemenites, who follow the Rambam (Hilchot Tefillin 4:13), would often start wearing tefillin as early as age nine or ten. Nowadays, in Israel, this is usually not done, although some of the Yemenite and Sephardic leaders have encouraged their followers to maintain this tradition.5 A painful question was posed to Rabbi Ephraim Oshry (Shu”t Mima’amakim 5:10) during the Holocaust. Among a group of young boys Rav Oshry taught was a twelve-yearold who wanted to start wearing tefillin because he didn’t know if he would make it to his thirteenth birthday. Relying on the Beit Yosef and the Bach, and because the boy was serious about the halachot and was within three months of his bar mitzvah, Rav Oshry permitted it.6
A question related to the issue of when to start putting on tefillin concerns the recital of the berachah of Shehecheyanu. The Likutei Maharich (early twentieth century; 19b), citing the Teshuvot Beit HaYotzer (OC 3, 4), states that those who follow the Rema should recite Shehecheyanu when putting on tefillin for the first time on their bar mitzvah day. This berachah is usually recited over cyclically repeating mitzvot (e.g., shaking a lulav), and joyous occasions, including the purchase of a significant new item. There is a halachic discussion on whether or not the berachah should be recited on the occasion of the first performance of a mitzvah. The Rema (YD 28:2) says that the first time one slaughters an animal, he should not recite Shehecheyanu because a living being was harmed, but for the mitzvah of kisui hadam, covering the blood, Shehecheyanu should be recited. Both of these rulings would seem to indicate a requirement to recite Shehecheyanu when performing a new mitzvah. The Shach (YD 28:5) disagrees and rules7 that the blessing is only recited for cyclical mitzvot or those that involve simchah. Regarding the mitzvah of tzitzit, the Shulchan Aruch rules (OC 22:1) that one should say Shehecheyanu, not solely because of the mitzvah, but also because of the new garment.8 The Mishnah Berurah (22:2) rules that one should not recite Shehecheyanu when performing a firsttime mitzvah.9 There may be an additional reason to recite Shehecheyanu prior to laying tefillin for the first time—it is a new item that brings one joy. And indeed, that is how the Rambam (Pe’er Hador 49)10 rules. However, the Kaf HaChaim (22:2), the Mishnah Berurah (22:2) and Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer 4 OC 50:5)11 all state that one should not recite Shehecheyanu when performing the mitzvah of tefillin for the first time. Is the debate regarding the recitation of Shehecheyanu moot if one started to put on tefillin prior to one’s bar mitzvah? According to the Tzitz Eliezer (13:24), it is. In the course of discussing whether a newly married woman should say Shehecheyanu the
first time she lights Shabbat candles, he quotes the Tvu’at Shor (28:5), which says that it is obvious that a minor who puts on tzitzit or tefillin should not say Shehecheyanu, and once he reaches thirteen, he should not recite it either because it’s not the first time he is performing the mitzvah. The Tzitz Eliezer also mentions in passing that the custom he is familiar with (Yerushalayim, mid-twentieth century) is to start putting on tefillin one, two or three months before the bar mitzvah. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s sons started laying tefillin a month before their bar mitzvahs, but he explicitly told them that he was not giving them tefillin until their bar mitzvah day (Halichot Shlomo 4:14). He would then give them tefillin as a present and instruct them to say Shehecheyanu, which covered both the laying and the acquisition of the tefillin. The Chatam Sofer (Shu”t OC 55) disagreed with those who said that one makes a Shehecheyanu the first time one performs a mitzvah; rather, he believed, like the Peri To’ar (YD 28:4), that the berachah is recited when one does a mitzvah for the first time after becoming obligated. Thus, he believed that every bar mitzvah boy should recite Shehecheyanu upon putting on tefillin on his bar mitzvah day, irrespective of whether he wore tefillin as a minor. It would appear that two basic streams of halachah are either to start laying tefillin years in advance of the bar mitzvah or to start on one’s thirteenth birthday.12 Many Jews today begin a month prior to the actual bar mitzvah, and this has, inter alia, simplified the debate regarding saying Shehecheyanu since in most cases, it is not recited. As mentioned, tefillin must be treated with caution and respect due to their tremendous holiness. Indeed, it should be noted that if one treats tefillin with proper care, he will merit reward. Also, Rambam (Tefillin 4:25) says that the tefillin’s sanctity is so great that when one has tefillin on his head and arm, he is led in the path of modesty and fear of Heaven, and is
not drawn toward levity and idle chatter. They protect him from bad thoughts and direct his heart toward truth and righteousness. Notes
1. This column was written in honor of my son Menachem Binyamin’s bar mitzvah, Parashat Lech Lecha 5776. 2. This halachah is also found in the Mechilta on Shemot 13:10, following the position of Rav Yossi Haglili in Menachot 36b. 3. Also, see Encyclopedia Talmudit, vol. 9, pp. 509-511. 4. Although he also reports that he saw in Yerushalayim that the custom was not to wear tefillin until age thirteen. 5. Rav Yosef Kapach, K’tavim, vol. 1, pp. 38-46. 6. Unfortunately the boy’s foreboding came true and on 3 Nissan 5704 (March 27, 1944) he was taken with the majority of the other children in the ghetto to be murdered. 7. He was following Tosafot (Berachot 37b, s.v. “Haya” and Sukkah 46a s.v. “Ha’oseh”) who argues with Rashi (Menachot 75b s.v. “Haya omed”). 8. See the lengthy Gra on this topic, where he discusses the principles and how they apply to various mitzvot. 9. It seems that the practice is to not say Shehecheyanu for a first-time mitzvah; ba’alei teshuvah are not instructed to say it for each new mitzvah. 10. See footnote 3 in the 1984 edition by Rav David Yosef for a summary of the positions of the Rishonim regarding reciting Shehecheyanu on a first-time mitzvah. 11. Rav Eliyahu Katz suggested (Be’er Eliyahu, OC 2:53) a novel reason why he thinks Shehecheyanu should not be recited on new tefillin. He says that Shehecheyanu is not recited on leather items, as stated by the Rema (OC 223:6), and therefore, Rav Katz suggests, there is an additional reason not say it on new tefillin. Note that the Rema does not say that. Rather the Rema says some people refrain from wishing another well on a new garment [“t’ivaleh v’titchadaish” (“May you wear it out and get a new one,”)] if it is made of leather. And many authorities explicitly rule that one should recite Shehecheyanu on leather items (e.g., Peri Megadim, Mishbetzet Zahav 22:1). On this statement of the Rema, see: http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/ search/label/Ari%20Z.%20Zivotofsky. 12. Among those Chassidim who also wear Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, many do so only after marriage, although some start also on their bar mitzvah day (see Daniel Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael [Jerusalem, 1994], 3:62).
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January 10, 2016 Please join us in celebrating our awardees:
TERRY and DENNIS M. EISENBERG
Ezra Ben Zion Lightman Memorial Award
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Winter 5776/2015 JEWISH ACTION I 95
David Eliahu Brand. Courtesy of Westminster Synagogue’s Memorial Scrolls Trust
Lasting Impressions
By Steve Lipman
SOFER, ONE “COINCIDENCE” AND ONE
S
ome months ago, inside the entrance of a small museum in a non-Orthodox synagogue in the center of London, I saw an apparently incongruous sight—a display case featuring several unrolled Torah scrolls and a large black-and-white photograph of a Chassidic Jew seated at a wooden drafting table. I’ve seen such artifacts in other non-Orthodox congregations. But those in Westminster Synagogue in London, especially the photo, are no nostalgic paean to a distant, unfamiliar part of Orthodox life. Rather, they’re part of Westminster Synagogue’s recent history. “This was Mr. Brand,” a guide told me, leading me through the museum. David Eliahu Brand, a Satmar chassid who was born in Israel and died there in early 2015, was Westminster Synagogue’s in-house sofer. For nearly three decades he made some 1,000 posul sifrei Torah rescued from the Holocaust kosher again, fit for use in congregations around the world. If a shul outside of the countries occupied by Nazi Germany has a “Holocaust Torah” in its ark today, the scroll probably came via London, and it probably was because of the tikkun work of Mr. Brand. Even more unlikely than a Chareidi Jew serving long-term at a Reform temple is how he came there in the first place. Through the generosity of Ralph Yablon, a philanthropic attorney and Westminster Synagogue member, in 1964 the congregation took possession from the Czech government of 1,564 ownerless sifrei Torah that had been collected and catalogued under Nazi auspices in Prague during World War II. The synagogue arranged for a team of local Orthodox rabbis to inspect the scrolls upon arrival to determine which
1,500 TORAH SCROLLS ones, after decades of moldy storage in a Prague synagogue-turned-warehouse, were salvageable. Westminster Synagogue found itself with shelves of sifrei Torah, and a problem. Where would it find a competent sofer? According to a story that has assumed legendary status, Mr. Brand, a second-generation sofer in London looking for work, was walking near Hyde Park and noticed the word “synagogue” on a building. He knocked on the door. Ruth Shaffer, a Warsaw native who was coordinating Westminster Synagogue’s Torah restoration project, serendipitously answered the door. Mr. Brand, speaking in Yiddish, identified himself. Es gibt Torot? “Do you have any Torahs?”—scrolls in need of repair? “Yes, we have 1,564,” Shaffer, who also spoke Yiddish, answered. “Do come in.” Mr. Brand was introduced to Rabbi Dr. Harold Reinhart, the congregation’s spiritual leader. “It was not long before it became clear that the association of Mr. Brand with Westminster Synagogue was ‘a marriage made in heaven,’” Phillippa Bernard writes in Out of the Midst of the Fire, a 2005 book that describes the Torahs’ paths from their original homes to Prague, London, and then to a score of venues around the world. For the next twenty-seven years, Mr. Brand worked in a third-floor room of the synagogue. He brought his family to London to a rented apartment a few miles away, davened in an Orthodox shul and immersed himself in a mikvah each morning before heading by Tube or bus to his holy work. He brought his own bag of kosher food and took a small elevator directly to his window-lit working space. During those years, Mr. Brand repaired about 1,000 scrolls. They were
Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action. 96 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5776/2015
sent, at no charge, on permanent loan to a variety of institutions, mostly small congregations that could not afford to buy their own sefer Torah and appreciated the symbolism of an object with Holocaust-survivor provenance. Most recipients are in the United States. “There was a lot of work,” said Rabbi Ariel Friedlander, my tour guide, now in charge of the Synagogue’s Memorial Scrolls Trust (memorialscrollstrust.org). When his workload lessened, Mr. Brand retired in 1992, leaving London for Israel. He died at eighty-seven, but his legacy—and his photograph—remains at Westminster Synagogue. While many non-Orthodox congregations engage an Orthodox sofer on an ad hoc basis to repair or write a sefer Torah, Mr. Brand’s ongoing relationship with such a synagogue was, as far as is known, unique. He never commented to his family about his unusual work setting, his daughter Pesi Bloy told me. “There are a lot of sifrei Torah,” he would explain. “I have to repair them.” “He could correctly be described as an ambassador for Chassidim,” author Bernard said. “He was a delightful, gentle man to work with, never expressing any opinion about our form of Judaism, though he would never partake of any form of food or drink with us. He had a great sense of humor, and was tolerant of everyone he encountered. He loved to discuss his work with anyone interested, particularly children. His arrival was quite fortuitous.” “He lucked out,” Rabbi Friedlander said, using an “American expression” for my sake. “And so did we.” g